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Book: “Welcome to St. Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure” by Lewis Hancox
Publishing Info: Graphix, June 2022
Where Did I Get This Book: I own it.
Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound
Book Description: A groundbreaking memoir about being a trans teen, in the vein of FUN HOME and FLAMER… and at the same time entirely its own.
Lewis has a few things to say to his younger teen self. He knows she hates her body. He knows she’s confused about who to snog. He knows she’s really a he and will ultimately realize this… but she’s going to go through a whole lot of mess (some of it funny, some of it not funny at all) to get to that point. Lewis is trying to tell her this… but she’s refusing to listen.
In WELCOME TO ST. HELL, author-illustrator Lewis Hancox takes readers on the hilarious, heartbreaking, and healing path he took to make it past trauma, confusion, hurt, and dubious fashion choices in order to become the man he was meant to be. It’s a remarkable, groundbreaking graphic memoir from an unmistakably bold new voice in comics.
Review: I remember that last year at some point I found myself in St. Paul all by my lonesome, and I decided to check out my favorite Twin Cities book store The Red Balloon Bookshop. It focuses on children’s and young adult literature, though you can find adult lit there too. I like supporting them as much as I can, and decided to treat myself to a spontaneous book purchase. Since I’m not a spontaneous person this kind of winging it can stress me out, but pretty quickly I saw “Welcome to St. Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure” by Lewis Hancox. I had not heard of it but decided this was the spontaneous purchase! And then I let it sit on my shelf for awhile, as I tend to do sometimes. But then I decided to pick it up on a whim, and once I started, I was kicking myself for waiting for so long.
This is a pretty straight forward story, following Lewis Hancox as he tells us his experience of being a trans teenager before coming out and fully realizing his gender identity, starting as a tween in 1999 and going through the beginning of his transition years later. I didn’t know what to expect about this book, but what I found was a very personal and in a lot of ways very hopeful and optimistic story as Lewis, then known as Lois, slowly realizes his transness. The device used is having present day Lewis visiting and dipping in on past Lois, explaining the context of what he was going through at the time and assuring Lois that things will ultimately be alright. It’s a fast read, and I found it very readable and basically devoured it in one evening. It’s not all optimism and joy, as Hancox did have some struggles with dysphoria and an eating disorder during the times he was really trying to make his body disappear, but I appreciated that we also get to see the close friendships he had at the time, as well as his at times stumbling but ultimately accepting family as he explores and reveals his identity. It’s made clear that in his case Hancox always knew that he wasn’t a girl, even if he couldn’t really untangle those feelings for awhile, and seeing that journey on the page, with a lot of supportive people around him, is such an important story, especially for trans teens who may be looking for assurances or a mirror into their own experiences. It’s also a great example of showing how Hancox had not only a loving and in place support system (many of whom are still in his life today), but also how once he DOES get the gender affirming care he needs its a game changer. Again, Hancox is honest about some of the harder things that he had to go through to get there, but there is so much hope and joy in this memoir that it feels like an important read as well as an enjoyable one.
This was also an incredibly funny memoir at times, as Hancox has such a wry sense of humor and can find the funny bits in his experiences as he figured out his true self. There were so many moments that had me chuckling out loud as he either has a sarcastic quip, or how he presents his mother at times, or even just the really relatable teenage moments of awkwardness and insecurity (assuredly magnified in his case has he wasn’t out as trans yet, and in many ways hadn’t really figured it out yet). There was one particular panel involving over-plucked and a bit too high eyebrows that were SO OF THE TIME it was absolutely hysterical to see. Even though Hancox isn’t at all afraid to be honest about some of the real struggles during this time, the tone is always held afloat because of this engaging sense of humor.
And finally, the art. I wasn’t sure WHAT I thought about the art at first, but as the story went on its simplicity really added to the story because it made it so that the story itself was at the forefront. By the end of it I really liked the artwork.
“Welcome to St. Hell” is a great memoir that is so important for this moment where trans people are being targeted and Othered. It’s a well done story with a lot of heart, but it also shows just how crucial acceptance and gender affirming care can be for trans youth, while also being super relatable. I quite enjoyed this one.
Rating 8: A personal, candid, and at times deeply humorous account on being able to live your truth and the journey along the way, “Welcome to St. Hell” is a must read graphic memoir.
Reader’s Advisory:
“Welcome to St. Hell” is included on the Goodreads lists “LGBT!+ Comics and Graphic Novels”, and “Books for Baby Queers”.
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