Diagnosis
Marbles recounts the early months after Forney’s diagnosis and its effects, as mania alternatively floats and sinks her. Forney’s aesthetic choices capture these contrasting phases. A series of pages depicting a manic phase is drawn in thick lines. Forney draws herself with large stars for eyes, her head encircled by a running stream of words. On the next page, she shows herself mid-stride, on one of her “energy-burning walks.” Her step is impossibly wide, her foot stretching too far forward to plausibly support her. Both formally and physically, there is overexertion and disorder. Word balloons of various shapes crowd around her, jamming her progress. The impact is jarring; there is too much voltage for the circuit.