Restless

By Joseph Kai. Published by Street Noise. 

Softcover, 160 pages, Colour, 2023. 

What would life feel like without fear and oppression? Is it possible to find solace in the power of chosen family, underground art collectives, and ultimately revolution?

Set in Beirut, Lebanon. It's 30 years after the end of the civil war, and a few months before the disastrous explosion of August 2020. Samar, a young queer comic book artist, wanders between anguished dreams, childhood memories, sexual experiences, and Beirut’s alternative communities. This abstractly autobiographical story tells of the author's anxiety over living in a complex city of changing colors and moods. Three powerful themes: art, sex, and political uprising, are interwoven in a compelling narrative and an otherwordly color palette.

“Shifting between dream and delusion, desire and defiance, Lebanon’s corrupted capital becomes the liminal backdrop for this sensuous and sensitive tale.” —Paul Gravett, author of Mangasia: The Definitive Guide to Asian Comics

“An absolutely stunning meditation on the anxieties of queer sex and of political revolution. Exploring the quiet tension of chosen family elegantly and precisely.” —Shing Yin Khor, author of The Legend of Aunti Po, a National Book Award finalist