I first reviewed Andi Santagata’s work in 2016 – seven years ago, which feels impossible but that is how time works. Those early issues of Trans Man Walking were all autobio, although looking back now I see the tendrils of horror working their way in. It’s honestly not subtle – the first issue’s cover features discarded femme skins hung up on hooks for sale.
I’ve really enjoyed watching Santagata’s work grow as he’s focused more on horror, even jumping from comics to game development with Slasher U, which you can support right now on Kickstarter. To be upfront, I am partially using this review to try and re-expose people to his work to support Slasher U, but I’ve actually been dawdling on writing this since I got the zine last year. Yennefer’s Body is a beautifully executed bridge piece between Trans Man Walking and Santagata’s newer work, incorporating body horror, autobio, and the old and new versions of his drawing style to process the terrifying experience of nearly dying.
Yennefer’s Body
Andi Santagata
September 2022
Yennefer’s Body opens with a two-page spread that is simply white and gray text on a black background, describing the final conversation with Morrigan in Dragon Age: Origins (specifically the DLC, I’m told.) There are four options for Morrigan’s ending in the game, but the zine lists only one: the player and Morrigan kiss and walk through a portal together. As a reader, we have no choice – we’re on our way somewhere, through a portal, and we’re going with Morrigan.
Santagata then sets Morrigan aside, but does not neglect her. We’ll come back to Morrigan, but to understand her place in his story we also have to encounter a few others: the titular Yennefer from The Witcher, Malcolm from Malcolm in the Middle, the vampiric cast members of What We Do in the Shadows, and Santagata’s past self, cut directly from the pages of Trans Man Walking. We meet past Santagata first as he reminds us: HRT is incredibly expensive, and his parents might cut him out if he starts it.
Slowly, these characters (and Santagata, the real person) intertwine. Santagata, drawn in a style closer to that of his Trans Man Walking era with unerased pencil lines and lighter inks, shifts between modern clothes and cosplay of The Witcher’s Dandelion (Jaskier, for the show watchers), having a personal but biting conversation with Yennefer. The plot of a Malcolm in the Middle episode drifts into a conversation between Santagata and his mother, revealing disturbing information about his handling of pain, and her approval of that dangerous approach. The What We Do vampires are exhausted and need blood brought to them. Santagata’s point of view takes over from a hospital bed, narrow, blurry, and hysteric. Blood red pages provide breaks, reminding the reader of what he lost in real life – approximately half his blood, bringing him to near-death.
Initially, the natural assumption is that these were his escapes – playing Dragon Age and The Witcher and watching What We Do in the Shadows to get away from familial and bodily trauma. It feels safe to assume that these stories did provide escape, but the through-lines of each of these characters – Yennefer and Morrigan in particular, but also Malcolm – all come together in a perfect, awful moment, where Santagata has to face the history of trauma that has kept him from addressing pain in a real way, and start to rebuild communication with his own body.
Santagata employs several visual techniques that control the pacing of the zine, giving the reader time to process each piece of the story before the stunning moment where it all comes together. The fully red page breaks are a simple one; they’re not just red ink but appear to be red paint mixed with black, with visible brushstrokes. This create the effect of smeared blood, and these pages’ placement throughout the zine is a reminder of the blood Santagata lost, but also creates the sensation that we’re in the moment of his near-death, experiencing these reflections together.
In contrast, the all black pages with only white and gray text are sparse, blunt, and emotionless. They deliver facts about the games or television episodes, and the simply printed black ink is vastly different from the heavy black inks Santagata uses to illustrate the shape and specter of his cruel, emotionally careless mother. Even when her face, when included, is just a dark head shape and scratchy lines – an impression of a figure fully lacking compassion.
Santagata continues to employ heavy inks in specific instances, using them to fill in Yennefer’s hair, making her feel more real and imposing than Santagata himself. In the views from a hospital bed, Santagata can see only through a limited oval of space, and the black of the page surrounding that oval spills into it, threatening to consume him fully.
Each of these techniques gives what could feel like a series of separated moments a powerful, emotional punch and a visual consistency that prepares the reader for that moment, when Morrigan makes her declaration and you go oh, this is when we reclaim it all – body, pain, feelings, wants.
There is variety in how Santagata uses heavy black inks, but they are all heavy black inks, and the reds are all vibrant red – you can flip through the zine quickly and get the sense that the contents are connected and seamless, despite it not having a traditional comic layout. Additionally, the way red mixes with black (black is mixed into the all red-pages, black inks of words from Santagata’s mother overlay on red background) creates an almost dizzying sensation that all these moments from games, stories and real life are overlapping with each each other.
Yennefer’s Body, beyond its deeply personal and well executed story — that, by the way, made me feel very relieved and happy Santagata is alive — is also evidence that he is an artist to follow. Let me him take your hand and guide you through the story, because the payoff will always be incredible. You can get this zine at the price of ‘pay what you want’ on Itch, and you can – and should – fund the kickstarter for Act 2 of Santagata’s sexy horror dating sim Slasher U, which wraps up very soon.
