I want to take you back. Back to a time before I had my autism spectrum diagnosis. I had an obsession with comic books and such like, to the extent that I created a website called South Devon Geek Squad (SDGS). On it, I shared anything I found interesting regarding comic books, superheroes, and geeky matters.

During this time, I went to various conventions and events, interviewed some great people:- from comic book powerhouse and hometown hero Jock, to Robert Llewellyn from Red Dwarf. It was through SDGS that I met a young comic book creator called Rees Finlay. I was pleased to get a signed copy of his comic series, High Priestess, and later on, his hardback collection, called Damnology.

“Where are you going with this, Bob?” I hear you ask. Well, funnily enough, I happened to see a notification on Twitter for my SDGS account from Rees for a new project he is doing regarding autism, called “Reaffirmation – Coming to terms with an autism diagnosis”. Intrigued, I contacted Rees and bought a copy of the preview booklet, which is, in his own words “an autobiographical hybrid of novella and graphic novel.” I read it not once, but twice. What I found was something so real and so relatable, while also being very raw and personal. It spoke to me as someone who also had a diagnosis late in life. Mrs Bob, who is not on the spectrum, also read it. She was extremely impressed, from her perspective as the wife of an autistic man, and she found it both interesting and helpful.

We both highly recommend this book to anyone with a diagnosis, or anyone who loves someone who is autistic.

This project will launch later this month on Kickstarter and I for one will be backing it. You can find Rees on Twitter @reesytime or Instagram @reesfinlay

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