Anxietyland By Gemma Correll
Gallery Books
April 2026
I don’t recall when I first encountered Gemma Correll’s work. It would have been on Instagram, in the Teens, those glorious, pre-enshitification days of social media. My memory is of discovering a handful of cartoonists who worked in a similar vein; personal awkwardness played for laughs. Most were 4 panel gags, created in a loose, easy-read style. I can’t remember the others in that algorithm curated cohort, gone dormant or unfollowed as their schtick wore then.
Then there was Correll. Correll is not schtick. Her comics have a very Correllian point of view, albeit slightly obscured by those great, fat, markers lines, funny animals, and a slightly West Coast flavored Britishness. The “inside baseball” part of my brain just can’t help but admire her chops. Correll is a cartoonist’s cartoonist, but one with a delightful and accessible style. It’s subversive, sometimes dark and, most importantly, always funny.
Small wonder that her comics worked so well with one of her perennial topics – mental health. Correll has been open in her work about her struggles with depression and anxiety. In her latest offering, ‘Anxietyland’, she takes the topic past the realm of humorous commiseration and into her life.
The book begins in the summer of 2018. Correll, an already established working artist, and her husband, Anthony have recently located from England to Berkeley, California on Correll’s work visa when she suddenly finds herself in the clutches of a full-blown panic attack. Subsequently alternating between severe anxiety and deadening anhedonia, she runs the gamut desperate for a cure, from audiobooks to naturopathy. When friends and even hotlines fail her, she was forced to seek medical attention.
Correll doesn’t stray from her signature style, which makes for great, tense moments that build to laugh/relief. It’s still strikingly effective when not played for laughs. She uses a kind of Funhouse motif for much of her work, the signage, lights and decor producing a funny counterpart to the subject matter. As the reader I felt I was along for the ride with her, experiencing each harrowing dip or unseen hairpin turns as she endures ups, downs, and spirals of amusement rides.
It’s in her long recovery, first at an ER and later in outpatient treatment, that we learn of her origin as an artist and the first hints of psychological issues. ‘Anxietyland’ masterfully employs flashbacks (in red parentheses) paired with progress from the modern day (in blue) to create a rich, nuanced and complicated portrait, no mean feat for a mostly comic portrayal. A lesser writer might have cobbled together some anecdotes and called it a day whilst enjoying mostly self-inflicted pats on the back for their daring. ’Anxietyland’ deftly creates a narrative arc that works in direct tension with the very not arc-like “journey“ (Correll hates that word) of mental health recovery. Her humor makes that journey not just tolerable, but immensely enjoyable, even in the most intense moments. It isn’t pedantic or preachy, but demystifies some of the world of mental health care while destigmatizing those who have been through it. People like myself. I laughed like a hyena (because I have severe incongruent affect. Look it up) with recognition at some of her symptoms. Been there. Also, am there, again. Kinda. And talking to my doctor to address it. It’s not the job of the author to inspire such things, or even really to educate. At the end of the day, this is a work of entertainment, but it had that effect.
I read through ’Anxietyland’ in two sessions, which is saying something because one of my diagnoses is ADHD, and keeping words and pictures on the page is tricky for these eyes sometimes. I just couldn’t put it down. As the book resolves, there is no pithy wrap up. It’s just not that simple, but it is satisfying as we see all the Gemmas, past and present, together as they make their way into their brave new world. We aren’t yet halfway through the year, but I’m confident ’Anxietyland’ will retain its place close to the top in my favorite books of the year.
