#29 Itch Archives • The Suburban Review

Itchius Spellius

Page 2 Panel 1: Above three panels, a large arm with a boxing glove is labelled with the words, “COULD PACK A PUNCH.” Panel 2: A spikey panel with distressed-looking monsters at the bottom and an image of dice shows text, “GHASTLY COUSINS. AC: 15, HP: 255, 45 ft.” A small image of a skull follows with, “incapacitated from full body eczema rash.” Panel 3: Similar style to panel 2, the text reads, “MEOZIUS PAW. Ac 21, HP: 105, 60ft.” An image of a sword follows with, “Forever itching a severe case of psoriasis.” The monster under the text has horns and a grizzly expression. Panel 4: Similar in style to panels 2 and 3, text reads, “BLEARSCHT. AC: 18, HP 97, 20 ft. Too embarrassed to leave their case due to face dermatitis.” The monster at the bottom covers its face with its 6 hands, distressed. Panel 5: A monster lies in the grass. It wears shorts and has a pillow under its head. Text circles their body, “BUT HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TO SLEEP WHILE COVERED IN BEASTBUG BITES?” Panel 6: The adventurer stands at the edge of a cliff, sceptre raised. They are small in comparison to the monster they encounter. It has a skull face, a chain around its neck, and other features reminiscent of trees and brick buildings. A ribbon at the bottom of the panel reads, “...unfortunately.” Panel 7: A ribbon crossing the panel reads, “Sometimes, the easy way doesn’t work.” The adventurer looks worried, raising their scepter toward the monster. Panel 8: With an intimidating pose, the giant monster towers over the adventurer on the cliff. Text on a ribbon reads, “and you must confront the thing.” Panel 9: The adventurer launches from the cliff, against the clouds in the sky, toward the monster. The monster screams and raises its hand. The final ribbon at the bottom of the panel reads, “Head on.”

Mitch Hearn is a queer animator, illustrator and avid snack eater living on Kaurna Country (Adelaide) who uses all kinds of mediums in his practice.

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The Wallaby

Joshua Santospirito

Page 4 Panel 1: A large brown tick swells with blood within a glowing blue outline. Text reads, "Later I asked Tom about ticks that might cause blindness.” Panel 2: An orange circle filled with smaller circles - the toxoplasmosis parasite under a microscope - glows. Text reads, "He reckoned these were classic signs of Toxoplasmosis.” Panel 3: A cat looks over its shoulder with a jagged line indicating its line of gaze. Text reads, “84% of introduced feral cats in Tasmania carry the parasite.” Panel 4: The wallaby munches on grass. A toxoplasmosis parasite glows underground, beneath the wallabies’ feet as she munches. Text reads, "Wallabies eat feaces in grass and transmit from mother to baby.” Panel 5: Against an orange-green background, the wallaby spins in a circle formation with white eyes, her nose almost touching her tail. Text reads, "They go blind, are tormented,” Panel 6: Against a white background lays an off-white wallaby skull. Text reads, "and die in large numbers.”

Joshua Santospirito (he/him) is a graphic novelist and multimedia artist living in Nipaluna on Palawa land, Lutruwita (Tasmania).

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Cover Art

Joanna Du

The graphic illustration shows arms tangling together against a blank milky purple background. The arms are not attached to bodies: each stands alone with a hand at either end. One arm holds a knife and scissors at either end. Another arm holds loose hair with one hand - about to be cut by the first arm - and gropes another arm with the other hand. The third arm holds the hair spilling out from the second arm’s hand, and a tattoo gun in the other, about to infiltrate the first arm.

Joanna Du is a Melbourne-based artist specialising in the dark, dreamy, and delectable. She explores inner urges and desires, manifest in a dream-like state.

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Dead leaves are liquid; wring them / drown Wessex in brackish milk. / The cottage is still like a mosquito in amber / sheltering dinosaur blood. Yes he was / born here, Dorset let him never get / over it.

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Heels

Lucy Dougan

My feet hurt then / in a new way / but I felt it sharply from the ground up / in everything that dropped down / from the trees onto the dead.

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Filaments and Firmaments

Andrew Menken

Oh my God! Did we pass / through a space-time rift or cross an Einstein- / Rosen bridge? How long have we been stuck / here? Am I even the same person who arrived?

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