I Have Problems In This Life: The Problematic And Tragic Existence Of A Fallen Dissident Priest In Soviet Russia: A Barxotka Story

by Vas Littlecrow Wojtanowicz, Loki Kaspari, Narphy Lamancha (Illustrator)

A young and defiant bisexual man joins the Orthodox priesthood in an effort to avoid having an affair with an older married woman. Instead of finding freedom and relief in his spiritual devotion, he gets swept up by a brutal crackdown against the "heretical" Josephite movement. Facing a choice between betraying the players of an anti-Soviet espionage ring, or confessing to false charges of homosexual pedophilia, Sarkos enters a downward spiral towards the corrupt Russian criminal underworld, where government authority and mobsters often blur. With a visual aesthetic that blends neo-Primitivism with 90's mini-comic photocopier zines, I Have Problems In This Life forces the reader to confront the fact that the ghosts of the Soviet past are still haunting Russia today. This graphic novel purposely takes problematic tropes from antiquated gay prison exploitation media to offer a scathing critique against the systemic oppression of religious dissidents and LGBTQ+ individuals in Russia that exists to this day. For mature audiences.

97 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 3, 2019