First Year Healthy is a bit of a departure for DeForge.  This 32 page, full color, hardcover work employs the superficial structure of an illustrated children’s fable to none-to-subtly subvert this genre’s assumptions.  The story starts out strange and, as this is a Michael DeForge story we’re talking about, of course gets stranger.  Clean lines delineating a flattened perspective filled with lush, vibrant colors present a story that starts out in a fish market, involves sexual shenanigans and mental illness, and features an immigrant, a gun, a knife, a holiday dinner, a baby and a holy cat.  We’ll let you see for yourself how they all fit together.