I Think You're Sauceome

I briefly met Sarah Becan during the last Free Comic Book Day and quickly dove into her Xeric-winning The Complete Ouija Interviews. Since then, I've been reading her food diary comic thing called "I Think You're Sauceome" which I think she only started a month or two before.

Read from an outsider's perspective (I am, in fact, a perennial outsider) it's one part illustrated food diary and one part slice-of-life comic. Becan is the central character and most of the strips center around her health. More specifically, what she weighs, her exercise and eating habits, and how she feels about all that. As I sit and type that out, it sounds dreadfully like the recently retired Cathy but, trust me, there are no "AAACK"s to be found!

The comic is less an attempt at comedy or parody, and seems more deliberately personal than Cathy Guisewite's intentionally broad-stroked newspaper strip. It comes across very much as Becan trying to figure herself out and using the comic as an attempt at catharsis.

Like many modern women in the U.S., Becan isn't terribly happy with her self-image. She thinks she's overweight and thinks she should exercise more, and if only she was a couple sizes smaller, everything would be cool. Indeed, in reading her "About" page (which I only first read tonight) she says...

I have believed I was overweight since, well, pretty much since I learned what the word “overweight” meant – whether I actually was overweight or not didn’t seem to make a difference.

Now, here's why I'm calling attention to the comic. It's a daily comic, so she doesn't spend a lot of time on fancy layouts or particularly intricate drawings or anything like that. And since I personally don't have any weight or self-image issues, I can only really sympathize with the issues she's working on and not empathize. No, here's what I find really engaging about the comic...

Becan's doing it. I mean, she's trying to figure out what the hell makes her dive into a plate of nachos after a harsh day at work. She dives into her own head every day and looks for answers. Not in that namby-pamby, self-help-books, quick-fix, The Secret, Oprah, I-blame-society, bullshit kind of way. But in a manner that's real and honest and sincere. She's not pretending to be a victim; she's taking charge of the parts of her life that she doesn't like and damn it, she's doing something about it!

I'm sure there are people out there who are interested in the different foods that she's eating but, personally, I barely even register that part of the comic is there. I'm more interested in seeing Becan fight her inner demons because A) not nearly enough people are even willing to attempt that and ignorantly blame everything/body else, and B) she's winning! There is very decided and noticeable growth over the course of the comic, especially in the past several weeks, and that is amazingly cool to see unfold in front of you. She is becoming a better/happier person right in front of your eyes, and I would love to see more people doing that.

Sarah Becan, I think you're sauceome! Keep it up! Everybody else, go read her comic: "I Think You're Sauceome!"

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