A 47-year-old author who contemplated suicide after losing three of his closest family members and later struggled with symptoms of long Covid has said writing children’s comic books has “saved (his) life” and hopes to share the message “you can still be a hero without being able to fly”. Kevin Green said he grew up not knowing his dad, however, he formed extremely close bonds with his mum, Eunice, his grandma, Irene, and his grandad, Arthur, and spent the majority of his childhood living at his grandparents’ house.
When Kevin was 13, his grandad, aged 65, passed away, and just one year later his mother, aged 32, died after being diagnosed with breast cancer – which had spread to her bones and left her bedridden. Kevin said he “never cried” and tried to remain positive in the following years, working in various roles of employment, however, after his grandma passed away, aged 88, in January 2021, he experienced waves of depression and contemplated suicide.
On top of this, Kevin, who lives in Tipton in the West Midlands, was hospitalised with Covid in the summer of 2022 and now struggles with extreme exhaustion, muscle aches, and “brain fog”. After stumbling across a comic book writing website in November 2022, Kevin found his new “lifesaving” passion and has since released five children’s comic books, including ‘Raiders of the Lost Bone’ and ‘The Weird & Wonderful World of Jack Panache’, by working in collaboration with various charities and organisations – and he now has plans to write a detective-inspired novel.
“I’ve always coped by making fun of myself… but I think I lost that for some time,” Kevin said. “I lost the willingness to laugh, full stop; the willingness to laugh at myself, and I became a much more serious person.
“With these books, as well as them being lifesaving, it’s just kept me being me. These books have literally saved my life because, without coming across that website, I’m not sure that I’d be here now.”
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Kevin said, growing up, he was “a big Spider-Man fan” and a “geeky nerd”, and he loved reading Stan Lee’s comic books. Looking back now, he said he never dreamed he would become a comic book writer himself, as he did not think he was intelligent enough.
“You always aspire, you always want to be established, and you always want to be the superhero, but never in a million years would I have thought of writing books. I didn’t feel I was intelligent enough to write a book,” he explained. After leaving school, Kevin said he began going out to pubs and clubs in Birmingham.
He said he began drinking more heavily as a coping mechanism for his grief, and he experienced his first-ever panic attack in his 20s, which he said was an indication of his anxiety and depression, which he had been suppressing. Kevin had various roles of employment, including working with children with disabilities at a local school, but he later ended up quitting his job to care for his gran full-time in 2014, as she had dementia and needed support.
Caring for his grandmother was challenging, particularly during the pandemic, and Kevin said, at times, she did not recognise him and would ask: “Where’s Kev?” Kevin’s gran was moved into a care home in the summer of 2020, but in January 2021, she passed away suddenly in hospital after contracting Covid-19, aged 88.
Following this, Kevin said “everything had just built up and built up” and he considered taking his own life. “I think everything just came to a head,” Kevin said.
“I had a walk… and I was close, that was how I felt, but something seemed to stop me.” In the summer of 2022, Kevin contracted Covid-19 and was taken to hospital in an ambulance as he said his heart rate reached 150bpm.
Kevin then started experiencing fatigue, muscle aches, and “brain fog” – symptoms he believes are related to long Covid – and his “mood changed again”. “I felt like giving up,” he said.
“I think that was my mindset and I’d just basically had enough; I just felt so down and depressed by it all. I couldn’t stand up, I couldn’t even have a shower… I had to wash in the bath and sit down.
“It was really tough for about two months, and that’s when I came across Pixton comics.” Kevin has since gone on to set up an Instagram account, @comicbookkev, and released five children’s comic books.
His favourite comic book is titled ‘Raiders of the Lost Bone’ – inspired by Indiana Jones, but with a talking dog – and he collaborated with the charity Dogs Trust to make this book a reality, with 10% of sale profits going to the organisation. He has also partnered with Make A Wish – a children’s charity – for another upcoming book.
Through his writing, he wants to encourage children to embrace their own superpowers. “Stan Lee was this amazing role model… and the only downside is he has basically covered everything on the superhero stage, so I wanted to do superheroes but without superpowers because I think, as humans, we’ve all got superpowers,” Kevin said.
“I wanted children to read – yes, Spider-Man is brilliant, Batman, and all these wonderful things – but you can still be a hero without being able to fly and just being able to use everyday skills, like dancing, for example.” While Kevin still experiences challenges with his mental health, he said “life’s short” and he feels everyone should “live every day like a sitcom”.
“There are so many people who go through a tough time, and we have to try and make the best of it,” he said. “There’s always a comedy moment, and I think we forget that sometimes.”
For anyone who needs advice or specific support, visit Samaritans’ website at www.samaritans.org.
