Kat Verhoeven is an illustrator and cartoonist based in Toronto. She’s the author of the graphic novel Towerkind. Verhoeven’s Meat & Bone (Conundrum Press), a graphic novel that originally started as a webcomic in 2012, is a queer slice-of-life drama about dating and eating. The story, which Verhoeven conceded in interviews that has autobiographical elements, is set in Toronto and focuses on the lives of three roommates, a mysterious neighbor, and their interpersonal struggles. While one roommate is slowly wrestling with severe body image issues, another is trying to figure out how to navigate her new polyamorous relationships―without hurting any of her partners. Meanwhile, the third roommate practically moves into the gym, where’s she’s quietly working through her own problems and those of her friends. In Meat & Bone, Verhoeven braids these four women’s stories about eating disorders, relationships, food, polyamory, and friendship into an unflinching, beautifully illustrated exploration of how women learn to define themselves in the modern world. Kate Leth, author of Adventure Time, and Spell on Wheels, said “Meat and Bone is a beautifully illustrated gut-punch of a book. It holds up a mirror to the worst of our self-loathing and dares us to smash it. Kat Verhoeven has created something terribly real with this lavish delight of colour: a rallying cry to self-love and an honest look at the hard journey to find it. This book made me feel genuinely hopeful that one day I might like myself, too.”
