Lewis Hancox

There was so much relatability in Hancox’s story of trans youth – claiming your gender when you’re younger then losing that as you get a little older and gender roles are pushed harder, really trying to be your assigned gender and still somehow being clocked as something ‘other’ or something confusing, panicking at signs of puberty and ignoring them hard like that will make them go away. Adolescent angst and awkwardness took on that extra layer when such a basic part of yourself show more was repressed and hurting.
Through all that, it was nice to see the support system for Hancox, even while most people in his town were ignorant as to what it actually meant to be trans. Bringing his parents back in for their current perspective on their behaviors at the time gave a sense of the growth that’s gone in terms of awareness of transgender people and issues, as well as the way people tried to be accepting despite their ignorance.
Hancox kept the story light with humor and the ever-present reminder that he did make it through and transition. The heaviest topics, like his eating disorder and body dysmorphia, weren’t erased, but kept a bit at a distance. show less

I was pleasantly surprised to come across this follow-up to Hancox's Welcome to St. Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure. It's a straightforward and engaging coming-of-age story.

Lewis Hancox prepares for college in a different town, determined to define the right masculine persona that will allow him to control how people perceive him during his transition through testosterone therapy.

Hancox is a hot mess of anxieties and moodiness, buffeted by constant misgendering and transphobia, lashing out show more recklessly, and self-sabotaging constantly.

It's a rough time, but Hancox inserts an older version of himself to help the younger one through the maelstrom, offering earned wisdom and the promise of better times. show less

Lewis Hancox gives a straightforward account of his life as a trans man in northern England during the early 2000s. He keeps the tone relatively light and jaunty even as he deals with heavy topics like bullying, homophobia, transphobia and eating disorders.

Side note: It always makes me feel weirdly happy to realize that a book like this that looks like a comic book I'd buy in the 1980's or 90's from a small indy publisher with a print run of one or two thousand copies and that might have show more four or ten sporadic issues over the course of several years is a 300-page original graphic novel from one of the largest publishers on the planet. show less

Welcome to St. Hell is a groundbreaking memoir about being a trans teen. Lois/Lewis has a few things to say to his younger teen self. He knows she hates her body. He knows she's confused about who to snog. He knows she's really a he and will ultimately realize this... but she's going to go through a whole lot of mess (some of it funny, some of it not funny at all) to get to that point. Lewis is trying to tell her this... but she's refusing to listen.

In Welcome to St. Hell, author-illustrator show more Lewis Hancox takes readers on the hilarious, heartbreaking, and healing path he took to make it past trauma, confusion, hurt, and dubious fashion choices in order to become the man he was meant to be.

When I began reading I wondered whether the comic would be preachy. It isn't. The author kept his hometown anonymous by calling is St. Hell in the comic and the high school he attended was called St. Hell High School. I felt so bad for him when he was taunted by his classmates. Young kids can be way too critical. However, he did find friends that accepted him and some of them came out publicly with different sexual orientations after high school.

The artwork created the humor in the novel. We see Lois/Lewis trying several actions to hide her feminine body shape. He works out in order to get rid of his curves and diets heavily that he has to be treated for anorexia. He finally admits to his mother that he is trying to get rid of his feminine shape because he feels like a boy. The author is lucky that his mother accepted him when he came out and, in fact, encouraged some of his behaviors because, inside, she knew that he was different.

This is a thoughtful memoir that taught me alot about the struggle of trans people. show less