Nothing Lasts Forever

by Sina Grace

Cartoonist SINA GRACE returns with another chapter in his growing library of reflective memoir, producing his most compelling and strongest tale to date. Chronicling a year of heartbreaks, writer's block, career highs, emotional lows, and the emergence of a mystery illness, Nothing Lasts Forever is Grace's unflinching exploration of how to pick up the pieces and find hope when absolutely everything falls apart.
If life's a show, Grace makes certain that it's worth every pay-per-view.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Nonfiction, Memoir, Queer, LGBT, Graphic Novels Comics

176 pages, Paperback

Published June 13, 2017

About the author

Sina Grace’s parents had big plans for their son: Ivy League schooling, professional credentials, a 6-figure income as a doctor– the works! Fortunately for us, he found the wonderful world of comics instead. It was in this world of contradictions that he “matured,” one foot teetering on the edge of academia, the other drawn to the inescapable grasp of an ink-bound fantasy underworld.

At 14, Grace seemingly appeased his parents by interning at Top Cow Productions, under the guidance of Editor-in-Chief Renae Geerlings (his single mother figured at least he was collecting college credit). However the only thing he was collecting (other than comics), was the compulsive habit of drawing unrealistically proportioned, scantily clad women.

At 16, he got a perpetual summer-time job at the Santa Monica landmark: Hi De Ho Comics, where he would be inspired to create Books with Pictures. By 17 he wrote, drew, and self-published his first comic, The Roller-Derby Robo-Dykes versus the Cannibals. His knowledge of disproportionate harlots with weapons came in handy when depicting a story about Robo-Dykes bent on taking over the world. His mother was happy that he was taking interest in girls. The book went into a second printing, and received the praise of Lying in the Gutters critic, Rich Johnston.

Weeks after graduating high school, he was asked by Rilo Kiley front-woman Jenny Lewis to illustrate a limited edition comic book adaptation of their 2004 record, More Adventurous. In the spring of 2006 he was asked to apprentice under comics genius, Howard Chaykin (even though it may not be apparent in Books with Pictures, Grace did learn the function of a ruler and the meaning of a vanishing point).

Between the summers of 2005 and 06, Grace’s partially-biographical indie dramedy, Books with Pictures, went from hand-xeroxed zines to full-fledged, full-sized comic books. Shortly after its debut at San Diego Comic-Con, Diamond Distributors accepted the series into their ordering catalogue, Previews. Grace’s work on the series was met with admiration from bloggers and reviewers alike, and has since taken on several projects for multiple anthologies due in late 2008.

To his parents’ delight, he graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, receiving an undergraduate degree in Literature, with an emphasis on Creative Writing.

Sina Grace recently self-published an illustrated novel about a sorcerer sleuth in Orange County, aptly named Cedric Hollows in Dial M for Magic, his next project will be providing illustrations for Amber Benson’s novel, Among the Ghosts, through Aladdin Books.

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 2 out of 5]

The point of this graphic memoir is that nothing lasts forever.

The focus is on a year of loss for Grace, his grandmother, the end of a relationship, illness.

And there's sex with multiple partners. And some good, sketchy, memoir-comics drawing that creates a sense of intimacy. And friends who support you when you are going through hard times. Because you will get through it, probably.

That's about it!

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t even know why I’m putting myself through this and reading these things. It was all jumbled, the drawings were odd, and the handwriting was hard for me to make out. But I still read it to the end and didn't like it.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too scattered, unstructured and unfocused for me. While I liked some individual moments, it did not come together in any sort of satisfying way.

[Shazia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing Lasts Forever is a collection of what is essentially a bunch of Sina Grace’s journal entries and I actually kind of really loved it. I think sometimes it can be difficult to express yourself using just words, and the illustrations in this graphic novel were the perfect touch to help deliver such a raw account of Grace’s experiences. I really do love that the text in this book is a bit “rough” as he describes, because it makes the story feel more real, like you truly are reading someone’s diary. (Although it was a bit hard to read since, ya know, it is handwritten). I definitely want to check out more of Sina Grace’s works after reading this. Also I kind of just want to be bff with him so Sina let me know if you read this okay thanks!

[Alex Sarll]

Sina Grace wonders what sort of comics he should be doing, along the way struggling with illness both physical and mental, and his own conflicted feelings about his ex, various casual hook-ups, and the teacher on whom he used to crush. And - surprise twist! - his account of all that becomes this comic. This sort of self-obsessed (tho actually that was the previous volume) autobiographical indie comic isn't normally my thing, and I'd had this one out from the library for bloody ages, other stuff leapfrogging it in the queue, before realising I either needed to read or return it, now. And I'm moderately glad I did, while also knowing I won't need to read anything else in this vein for a while now. Some lovely lines and moments are dotted around, though my favourite bit was undoubtedly a quote from one of the various other comics creators who appears as a guest, Riley Rossmo, when asked what he wants to draw:
"I wanna draw...Princess Leia fingering herself while smoking a blunt & not giving a fuck because it's not sexist just tight as fucccccck!"

[Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel as if this comic almost isn't meant to be criticized, which is a large part of why I can't bring myself to like it. The experience of reading it is similar to having a friend dump all their problems on you to be listened to, validated and unconditionally accepted without considering how you may feel about that responsibility.

The 'realization' Grace finally has at the end regarding how he treats his partners is one rather immature for a grown adult, and maybe that's his point, but he seems to shy away from truly confronting his own behaviors. I'm assuming the people he writes about really exist, but I'd be overjoyed to be told otherwise since the harsh honesty he reserves almost exclusively for those who are strangers to us is extremely uncomfortable.

I congratulate Grace on the bravery it must have involved to create this work and hope he has been doing better both emotionally and physically in recent years, but I will most likely avoid reading any more of his memoirs.

[Coleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

My BAD! I missed the Warning on the Entry for the Goodreads giveaway that there was 'male sex'
in the book, or I would not have entered. But I did enter, and I did win.

What I had read was that the book was a Graphic Novel and that it involved picking up the pieces in a person's life after everything falls apart and that it was written in the form of a memoir. So that interested me.

The book was properly labeled Mature, and rightly so. I might have missed some of the 'sex' in the book, but I think it was minimal. And the book did deal with grief, sorrow, heartbreak and woe that someone might go through when a relationship falls apart, written in a first person as in a journal. In this case, the journal writer is about as messed up as I have seen and still be functional. I had to think in my mind that I was glad, despite at least one relationship not working out, that I had never been as messed up as "Sina" writes the character is in the book.

Nevertheless, I thought the author was very talented in his illustrations [the ones that I could look at without being embarrassed] and I am always impressed by talent in that regard. Good luck!

[Anna Sellheim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Other cartoonists have done this type of book so much better. Grace talks about not wanting to talk about depression but he just hits the surface of so many topics and doesn’t dig deep enough for any interesting perspective on any of them. He is also using terms like “the sads” and just seems like the worst type of LA guy. He mentions how people on Tumblr are better than him and it’s really true. Really cringey.

[Kevin Warman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this for so many reasons. The entirety felt nakedly honest and unpolished. Grace's story at times overwhelmed me and at others made me laugh. I felt lucky to read something as personal. My hope is wherever he is in his journey, he finds solace.

[Bria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this one in a good reads giveaway! I couldn't resist requesting a copy of a graphic novel, let alone an autobio one since that seems to be the sort of thing I'm into and apparently think I'm gonna do myself someday. Of course, Grace has actual drawing ability and design skills (not to mention legible handwriting) and the ability to evoke poignant emotions out of his experiences. But I won't fault him for that. We can't all be perfect.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a gorgeous book. I think this is always going to hold a special place in my heart. Sina supremacy.

[Matt Graupman · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Nothing Lasts Forever” by Sina Grace, the artist behind “Lil Depressed Boy,” is an intimate, diaristic record of a particularly difficult year of the author’s life. Unmoored by the death of his grandmother and struggling with dark moods, Grace chronicles his misadventures in dating, his artistic blockages, and the swirling self-defeating thoughts in his head; think of this memoir as a sort of “Lil Depressed Man.” Grace has an incredibly poised, elegant style, which reminded me a lot of Craig Thompson. Like, A LOT. In fact, “Nothing Lasts Forever” was VERY much like Thompson’s “Carnet de Voyage” except, instead of chronicling the European adventures of a lanky sensitive heterosexual cartoonist from the Pacific Northwest, it follows the daily trials of a lanky sensitive homosexual cartoonist from Los Angeles. I usually prefer my autobio comics to be a little more focused and narrative but this kind of voyeuristic stream-of-consciousness works pretty well, too.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really adored the drawing style of this, especially the gorgeous pastel color scheme. I have never read anything else by this author, so I had little context to go off of but I loved the book anyways. It feels like reading an extremely intimate diary, which is one of my favorite genres of graphic novels.

I do remember at times, the writing being a bit unclear and confused. For example, in the part where he exchanges messages with his teacher I couldn't really wrap my head around it. However, for its fearless subject matter and sheer beauty I overall am very glad that I came across this. I had basically given up on Image comics but this changed my mind!

[Gargi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a rather interesting book. I like reflective memoirs, and rawness of these illustrations bring the author's pains alive.
I was close to giving up since the first few illustrations were not very nice, but I'm glad I kept reading. Grace gives the topic of mental health much needed light, and discusses the glamour/self-medication associated.
It was a very nice read, and I'm thankful to the publisher for making it available as an ARC!

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy autobiographical/memoir graphic novels therefore this book was right up my alley. Generally I enjoy graphic novels when they are more structured, however in this case it was done in a diary/sketchbook style which worked well as it made it feel more personal. The subject matters visited (relationships, illness) reminded of some Jeffrey Brown works.

I will look into reading more of Sina Grace's autobiographical works.

[Hannah Garden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is some raw shit, Sina. I shave my head and a lot of times other more conventionally feminine-looking women will tell me I'm brave to do so and I'm like go suck an egg ya bat, so I'm not saying I think it's BRAVE to put something so raw out there but wow. I'm impressed. I put some pretty raw shit out there myself and this makes me feel like I'm in cool cool handsome company.

[Louis Skye · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book feels like a draft. I know the author says it’s a bit of a rough retelling of his experiences, but some chapters feel unfinished, and the illustrations are sometimes hard to decipher. The lettering was really tough to read at times.

But his chapter on depression was very well-articulated and gave me much to think about it.

I’m glad I read it but the book does feel unfocused.

[Cristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this guy's sketching style and his writing was heart wrenching and raw; so vulnerable it's a little hard to take but the graphic style helps it go down. He's a complicated young gay man struggling with relationships, family and roots, and depression, so it's not a light read. Nonetheless, it's powerful and a unique perspective that is worth listening to.

[Jason Bootle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked the rough sketched aesthetic and some of the layouts were unconventional (Sina is an excellent illustrator) but the storyline was too self obsessed and really didn't resonate with me. Too many other great books to read to persist with this.

[jude · Rating 3 out of 5]

feels weird to rate this because it's a lot of very personal diary (and diary-ish) comics. but it is published and available for purchase, so.

kinda choppy and meandering. sometimes hard to read because it's so loose and scribbly. but very honest. relateable, in parts. uplifting at the end.

[Mateen Mahboubi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think that we need to expect much from Grace here as this is presented as only loosely edited excerpts from sketchbooks/journals. What's presented is very honest and raw. From family death to illness to relationships, we get a bit of everything.

[Paul Allard · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not for me and hard to read in the digital edition. So I abandoned it.

[Comics Alternative · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://comicsalternative.com/episode-...

[Jose Munoz Perez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow starter but the second Half was amazing, really hit hard, this character was not what I was thinking he would be and I’m so happy that I had a strong connection to him

[Andy Bird · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ive become a big fan of Sina Grace in all his forms: the iceman comic (RIP), on twitter and in these memoirs. A great, sad, queer memoir graphic novel.

[Carmen Catter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though the format may be rough at times, the genuine raw emotion and vulnerability comes out in these journal entries turned graphic novel.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raw and moving. Grace leaves nothing off the table in this memoir. Now I need to find his other memoirs.

[spoon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some good images and moments but I didn’t love it.

[Behr · Rating 5 out of 5]

visually eclectic as the feels solicited when stumbling with the author through these open and vulnerable experiences - his stance on art and desire resonated so much with me