When blood flows down Dara Lund’s legs at Nature Camp, the girls around her make her believe she’s cursed — and make her perform torturous tasks for their amusement.
Mad Cave has been releasing a lot of great stuff this year, and Flow is another one to add to your pull lists. Written by Paula Sevenbergen with art from Claudia Balboni, colours by Fabi Marques, and lettering by Jodie Troutman — Flow tells a unique story, and it’s totally chilling.
In Flow, we follow Dara Lund, a young girl who’s homeschooled by her overly-protective father following her mother’s mysterious death. When her father sends her to Nature Camp, Dara is left to her own devices. Furthermore, when she experiences her first period, and understandably panics, the girls in the camp make her believe that she’s been cursed — and the only way to break the curse is by performing increasingly sadistic tasks. It starts off by eating live bugs, and progresses into forcing her to sleep alone outside in the dark forest.
Writer Sevenbergen does a stellar job at writing a story about juvenile innocence. It’s saddening, and makes you feel for our protagonist. There’s something intrinsically realistic about it, even with some light fantastical elements in issue #1. It’s a unique story, too. The only other comic I’ve read somewhat recently about the menstrual cycle is Emilia Clarke’s MoM: Mother of Madness, in which the protagonist’s periods give her superpowers. Flow, however, approaches the subject with more delicacy and maturity, which particularly stood out to me.
The comic also shifts narrative to 10 years after Dara was bullied. In this period, we catch up with her tormentors, now pursuing a high-brow careers. However, it turns out that these former bullies find themselves cursed in adulthood, with things happening to them that echo what they had put Dara through a decade prior. Is Dara enacting her revenge? That’s the mystery of issue #1.
Verdict
From the unique narrative, and the mystery it presents, to the fantastic artwork by Claudia Balboni, Flow #1 is a very impressive debut issue. I’m super excited to see how the story progresses!
Flow #1 releases on September 17, 2025.
