New York Public Library Top 50 Best New Comics for Adults, 2025
the documented experiences of Joseph O’Dwyer, a young man who was institutionalized at one of Canada’s most notorious historic psychiatric institutions
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SALT GREEN DEATH IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE AND TO ORDER AT CONUNDRUM PRESS!
My graphic novel, Salt Green Death (Conundrum Press), is a work of creative nonfiction born out of historical research – a Vancouver-based, family saga spanning mainly 1924 – 1968. I released a prologue to the project (title: JOSEPH) in 2022 as a limited edition 12-page broadsheet newspaper format. The prologue focuses on incidents on November 21, 1948.
Salt Green Death, Katarina Thorsen, Conundrum Press 2025
(Video and music by Julian Bowers)
(Video and music by Julian Bowers)
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Interview in Catazine 2025:
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From Matt Madden:
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Testimonials:
“Katarina Thorsen has pushed creative non-fiction in astonishing new directions. Salt Green Death invites the reader to take an active role in sorting through documents and correspondence, drawing their own conclusions and inferences along the way. And she weaves (sometimes literally) the sorry saga of the O’Dwyer family together with her vivid charcoal drawings and buoyant, color renderings of the natural world, lending poetry and grace to this tale of utter heartbreak.” — Matt Madden, 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style
“This is a remarkable book: a graphic novel that will challenge your notions about the meaning of the genre. In essence, it is an investigation into a history of family trauma but Thorsen’s presentation of the material that has constituted her research turns Salt Green Death into a catalogue of innovations: ingenious compositional turns and strategies make every page a delight, a map of visual possibilities. Doctor’s reports, family letters, administrative records join in a dance with feathers, fur, yarn, bone: you will not find another book so lovingly devoted to textures of such variety. Thorsen has the mind of an archivist, the eye of a painter and the heart of a poet.” — Bishakh Som, Apsara Engine
“Katarina Thorsen’s extraordinary talents as a writer, artist and researcher shine through in every page. This book is a visual delight that assaults the senses. I loved every inch of it!” — Eve Lazarus, Cold Case BC, Beneath Dark Waters: The Legacy of the Empress of Ireland Shipwreck
“Thorsen’s incredible style and conveyance through it is such a HUGE elevation of the emotional experience. The beauty of her drawing, of the natural world, of even the architecture, is also an elevation. It brings a sense of reverence and mystery to what is such a heartbreaking family story. But the beauty and mystery conveyed in every aspect also embodies a sense of hope and love. And these two things should never be left out of a story of life, grief and death, because they exist simultaneously, maybe even more in the face of such loss. And this is the age old paradox, that these things are true at the same time. That we love even as our heart breaks. And with death, also comes what it is to have lived.” — Christy Ann Conlin, The Memento, The Speed of Mercy, Heave
PRESS, POSTS AND REVIEWS:
“Utterly gorgeous! The story is chilling and painful; Thorsen takes a deep dive on a topic that lurks in the back of all our minds: what could happen if you were deemed incapable and kept locked up in a psychiatric unit? This is the true story of an immigrant family and the incessant bad luck they encountered here. Thorsen’s research is thorough and the details she uses to tell the story are devastating. The artwork in this book is stunning. Expressive and accurate drawings married to creative and immersive methods of divulging nuggets of critical information. Excellent pacing, a visual feast on every page! If you are a fan of truly excellent drawing, this book is for you.” – Amazon review
“Salt Green Death is an extraordinary graphic novel. It is in a league of its own. I’ve never read anything like this before. If you enjoyed My Favourite Thing is Monsters by Emil Ferris, you’ll love Salt Green Death. But SGD is even more intriguing and more innovative. The book tells the page turner of a story of an Irish immigrant family who come to Vancouver for a better life, before WW II and after the war. Although their lives are full of the challenges, hopes and disappointments of working class immigrants from the early/mid 20th century, their lives are also punctuated with beauty and love. It’s not just their story but the drawing/telling of it, the incredible drawing and cartooning, the use of archival materials, a visual feast of a read. The book is very much a meditation on grief and love, on family and place, on living with demons and angels in a society riven with both conflict and possibility It’s also a captivating study on psychiatry and institutions, which provide safety at the cost of freedom and self expression. It’s an incredible juxtaposition of transcendent beauty and profound sorrow. For fans of James Joyce, you’ll love the theme and references to Ulysses which run throughout the book. I read the book a few months ago and I’m still ruminating how society treats the weak and vulnerable, on the great risks immigrants take seeking a better life. This book is truly an exceptional documenting of an immigrant experience. It’s also a primo example of the fast emerging genre of graphic medicine and makes you rethink how we understand health and healing, story telling and history. A truly stand out book.” – Amazon review
READ FULL ARTICLE AT LINK
READ FULL ARTICLE AT LINK
READ STYCHIN’S FULL ARTICLE AT LINK
As found in EMPIRIX.NO:
Salt Green Death takes its title from a line in James Joyce’s Ulysses, further excerpts from which are interwoven throughout and seem to provide something of a template for the meandering stream of consciousness form of the narrative structure of the work, while the expressive distortions of the British painter, Francis Bacon provide a point of reference for the stunning and haunting visuals created by Thorsen to bring you into the maelstrom. While the primary focus is on Joseph O’Dwyer, child number four in the O’Dwyer family – who was institutionalized for most of his adult life, during which period the treatment regimes he was subjected to are shown to be largely a series of failures – it can more accurately be described as a chronicle of the entire family, who migrated all together from Ireland to Canada in 1927, in pursuit of a better life. The artistic methods and manner of the portrayal work together to capture the bleakness that permeates this chronicle of misfortune, ignorance, failure and death that at last provides an empathic reconsideration of what would otherwise be forgotten casualties of the cruelties of the 20th Century. – The Copacetic Comics Company
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Review by Comic Concierge
This was one of the most unique reading experiences I have had in some time. Salt Green Death by Katarina Thorsen is a work of painstaking journalistic research mixed with incredible artistry and a creative spirit that is only possible with an intense combination of both passion and dedication. In a way, it is looking to redefine what you can do with a comic book format as much as any comic book you will read this year. At the center, it is telling the story of Joseph O’Dwyer, who is probably a figure you have never heard of before, but by delving into his story, Thorsen is able to piece together the broken way society approached psychology, depression, and mental illness, and how that broken foundation impacts our world today. An attempted suicide attempt by Joseph O’Dwyer in 1948 led him to be hospitalized and eventually moved into an institution. What is fascinating is how we learn about this journey. This is not your typical comic book where we have well-placed panels with dialogue balloons that recreate those past conversations so we get an understanding of what happened. Instead, most pages are filled with doctor’s notes, observations, and pieces of interviews to gain insight not only in how those people viewed Joseph, but mental illness in general, and what was seen as the proper treatment. It invites you to be an active participant in how straightforward information is provided. There is an active observation you normally do not get with comics because the lens can be distorted by comic book creators. Here, that lens is cleared and we get a direct link to past events like watching archival footage of yesteryear. Artistic license is taken here and there, especially with moments of flashback, but rarely have I seen information provided in this fashion. It’s truly fascinating. One thing that needs to be made certain is that this book is not boring. I could see how reading lab notes that are nearly 80 years old does not sound like an ideal way to spend your free time. It all works, though, because of how Katarina Thorsen packs each page with so much creative and stunning visuals. You see her mind at work as she looks to understand this man she never knew, but also wonders what world did he come from and how to best represent that world. I love comics that look to redefine what a comic book can do. It doesn’t happen often, but Salt Green Death is certainly one of those books. The dedication needed just to get the information gathered is something to behold, and when you add that to the craftsmanship to put it all together, you get one of the most bold works of the year thus far. – Comic Concierge
REVIEW BY MISERY ZONE:
BC BOOKWORLD autumn 2025 FEATURE:
December 18, 2025:
From Matthew Noe, Lead Collection & Knowledge Management Librarian, Treasurer for the Graphic Medicine International Collective
Over the last 11 days, librarians on BlueSky have been sharing their top 10 books (in no particular order) published in 2025, along with a few honorable mentions since 10 is never enough. We call it #LibFaves25
Now that we’re done, I thought I’d share mine here!
Day 1: INSECTOPOLIS by Peter Kuper
Day 2: MAKING NONFICTION COMICS by Shay Mirk and Eleri Harris
Day 3: THE AI CON by Alex Hanna and Emily M. Bender
Day 4: THIS SLAVERY by Scarlett and Sophie Rickard (OG Ethel Carnie Holdsworthl)
Day 5: HOLLER: A GRAPHIC MEMOIR OF RURAL RESISTANCE by Denali Sai Nalamalapu
Day 6: THIS BEAUTIFUL RIDICULOUS CITY by Kay Sohini
Day 7: ABSOLUTE MARTIAN MANHUNTER by Deniz Camp and Javier Rodriguez
Day 8: IS A RIVER ALIVE? by Robert Macfarlane
Day 9: ONE DAY, EVERYONE WILL HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AGAINST THIS by Omar El Akkad
Day 10: SUNRISE ON THE REAPING by Suzanne Collins
HM: IT RHYMES WITH TAKEI by George Takei, Steven Scott, Justin Eisinger, and Harmony Becker
HM: DAEDALUS IS DEAD by Seamus Sullivan
HM: SALT GREEN DEATH by Katarina Thorsen
Salt Green Death, Katarina Thorsen (Conundrum Press)
A historical reconstruction, an intricate mystery, and an investigation of the way we are harmed and helped by the people meant to have care of us, Thorsen’s book — composed of masterful waves of shifting colored pencils that fit its historical period magnificently — tells the story of a disturbed man named Joseph O’Dwyer’s life-altering encounters with the psychiatric system of Canada in the postwar years. It’s a tremendous piece of work, making a small story resonate into much greater meaning. – Leonard Pierce
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ORIGIN STORY OF SALT GREEN DEATH:
When A Story Finds You – The Babes in the Wood Cold Case and Unexpected Discoveries
I presented at Vancouver Heritage Foundation Heritage Lunch and Learn on March 9, 2023
In 2003, Katarina Thorsen volunteered as a researcher and student criminal profiler with the Babes in the Woods Task Force. The task force’s goal was to identify the children whose skeletal remains were found in Stanley Park on January 15, 1953. Katarina will share her experiences of working with the task force, developing a profile, sifting through archives, meeting with communities, cataloguing the physical evidence and her unique creative approach to cold case investigation. A newspaper article, dated November 6, 1947, led Katarina on an unexpected 20 year journey of extensive historical, genealogical, forensic and psychiatric research into a Vancouver-based Irish immigrant family whose story is currently being developed into a graphic novel. The prologue/teaser to the project was published in 2022 as a limited edition broadsheet, funded in large part by VHF’s Yosef Wosk Publication Grant.
PRESENTATION RECORDING:
Limited edition copies of the broadsheet are available at:
JOSEPH, THE PROLOGUE
© KATARINA THORSEN 2025