Sammy the Mouse

In the late 2000s, Fantagraphics published Zak Sally's Sammy the Mouse, a three-issue series that subverts the classic cartoon animal archetype. This is not a cheerful romp; instead, it's a bleak, surreal, and deeply personal meditation on depression, addiction, and creative struggle, drawn in a raw, expressive style that matches its unflinching tone. Sally uses the familiar form of a talking mouse to explore profoundly human anxieties, making this a distinctive and haunting work from the alternative comics scene.