About this ebook
As Lorinel navigates school, family, and neighborhood life, she begins to question the absurdities around her: Why is there no hot water? Why are cartoons so short? Her innocent curiosity draws the attention of Nicolae Ceaușescu himself, who inserts himself into her story as a self-proclaimed father figure and national savior.
Guided by Father Pop-a tiny, floating Orthodox priest-Lorinel explores history, morality, and spiritual identity. From surreal classroom debates with Vlad the Impaler to a final showdown between rival miniature preachers, the book blends humor, philosophy, and emotional depth.
Inspired by the author's own childhood, Me and the Comrade is a a story about how childhood, with all its imagination and defiance, can flourish even in the shadow of oppression.
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About the author
Laura Farcas is a Romanian-born visual artist and storyteller, trained in sculpture and graphic design. After over 15 years in the creative industries, she turned to visual storytelling as a way to reconnect with her past and explore memory through art.
Her debut graphic novel, Me and the Comrade, is a deeply personal and historically inspired project, created in collaboration with her husband, illustrator Ovi Farcas. Together, they revisit childhood memories from the final years of communist Romania — a time marked by restriction, propaganda, and surreal absurdity.
For readers of Persepolis, The Arab of the Future, and fans of Eastern European graphic memoirs, Me and the Comrade offers a surreal and satirical journey through childhood under dictatorship. Told from the perspective of Lorinel, a six-year-old girl in 1980s Romania, the book blends absurd humor, spiritual allegory, and emotional depth — revealing how imagination can flourish even in the shadow of oppression.
Blending illustration, narrative, and political allegory, the book captures the tension, humor, and quiet rebellion of growing up under authoritarian rule. It speaks to readers interested in graphic memoirs, historical fiction, and coming-of-age stories told through a visual lens.
