It’s not a base that we’re used to but we can quickly grow accustomed to it, swept along in their warmth. For everything else that visually happens in this book, these unique colors provide an anchor for the reader throughout the book.

Her bright, warm colors, occasionally toned down with cooling purples and greens, welcome and guide us into this woman’s new experiences. It verges on being difficult to look at but Westvind never turns the knobs to 11, instead finding just the right balance of these colors that make these images so intriguing and captivating. The vivid pinks set against yellow backgrounds set the volume of this comic, pushing the visual decibels to their max. Her colors practically fight each other on the page. Largely wordless with a few sound effects and printed materials like posters or books in the background, Westvind has created one of the loudest comics. And so begins this woman’s path to learn about her abilities to create and craft as a woman from other women who have already learned these things about themselves. They’re not destructive but vocational and creative they just need to be controlled and learned about. Westvind draws this moment, and many more in this comic like it, as chaotic storms to be tamed and controlled. Some internal or external force causes her a moment’s curiosity that changes her, turning her hands into whirling, tornado-like forces of nature. Just a woman, our hero figure in this story, stumbling a break in the wall that she’s compelled/pushed to look into. Nothing special, no grand destiny waiting to be met or any sense of destiny in that walk. Lale Westvind’s Grip is a journey that starts in the most innocuous way with a woman walking down a sidewalk. 5 min read Grip by Lale Westvind, published by Perfectly Acceptable Press A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.