Webcomic Weekly: Rachael Smith’s ‘Nap Comix’ Hits 200

Rachael Smith‘s fabulous Nap Comix reaches an incredible 200 episodes very soon – share the love!

I love Rachael Smith’s comics. I’ve told you that many, many times. I have loved her stuff since seeing her very earliest work and continue to do so. It’s been a delight to watch her talent shine ever brighter and her work go to some incredible places.

Increasingly, her work deals with mental health issues that have both unbelievable honesty and power and some typically warm comedy moments in works such as Wired Up Wrong, Stand In Your Power, and Quarantine Comix. And Nap Comix fits perfectly in amongst those, detailing the ups and downs of Rachael’s adventures in motherhood in a way that never shies away from the trauma, the doubts, the isolation, the worry, the indecision, the desperation – along with a healthy dose of all the wonderful moments that come along as well.

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Nap Comix came about after she and Rob welcomed baby Henry into their lives in 2023. Instead of doing the sensible thing and just cope with parenthood, Rachael decided that a perfect way to celebrate the occasion would be Nap Comix, regular diary comics about Henry and the joys (or otherwise) of parenthood since July 2023.

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These wonderfully quick, scribbly (in the finest way) slices of life, that are usually made when Henry’s having a nap, have now been running for more than a year and are about to reach, incredibly, 200 episodes. Henry’s gone from being a baby to a little boy, and we’ve all been there to share every moment.

I remember when we had Molly a long time ago and all we could do was to grab sleep whenever possible, keep her alive and well, and try not to lose our minds worrying. To get to 200 episodes of Nap Comix is something that definitely needs celebrating.

Here’s what I had to say about the series in the past…

“Nap Comix is something everyone should be reading for both wonderful feel good moments and insights into our human condition and is definitely recommended for every new parent to get a realistic, warts-and-all view on how wonderful and difficult this whole new child thing can be.”

Oh yes, I stand by all of that completely.

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The power of Nap Comix comes from Rachael’s ability to do great art (scribbly my foot – it’s great art) that’s both funny and yet manages to nail the fundamentals of the experience she’s showing us. This is no ‘everything’s wonderful, look at my child, isn’t everything so great’ thing. No, this is a warts and all experience, sharing all the delights for sure but also never holding back from showing us the horrible moments. And that’s just the greatest thing it could be.

[Just as an aside – It always annoyed me as a parent when other parents would bang on and on about how great being a parent was, how their little angel was just the perfect thing. How could that be, thought I, when we’re sitting here wondering how to stop Molly screaming the place down with colic and Mothercare has sold out of Infacol.]

Part of Rachael’s journey of parenthood involves the issues of depression and anxiety that have featured so powerfully in many of her recent works. So, that means that we see Rachael showing us some very difficult moments, with her anxieties and depression and struggles, made real by the personification of Barky. Just like this…

 

Frankly, Nap Comix is just the parenting guide that you really need. It’s all in here – the reality of being a new mum and dad, the reality of mess; depression; despair; the joyous moments; the comedic moments; the wanting them to never grow up moments; the worries that attack you at any moment that you’re not doing it right, that you’re just not a good parent; along with plenty of poop, pee, and vomit. It’s just perfectly done as Rachael nails, again and again, the simple moments of the human condition and the realities of parenthood.

So, with the series hitting 200 sometime in late August, it’s time to join Rachael, Rob, Henry, and Rufus the cat and see just how a guide to parenthood really should be done.

This was a recent Nap Comix that really did make complete sense to me, and I’m sure so many of you out there going through it all will appreciate it. Don’t worry, you’re definitely not alone and Nap Comix will make you smile and reassure you that, yes, you ARE doing it all right.

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Anyway, go follow her on Twitter and the other socials to see the new ones as they come out. Alternatively, to see them all in one place, go subscribe at webtoons or rachaelsmith.org/nap.

You won’t regret it at all – Nap Comix really is just a great, great thing. Hopefully, at some point in the future, it will be a book that I know will be a present I give to anyone I know who’s announced they’re going to be having a little one of their own.

Now, to end, a selection from start to more recent…