The Bad Doctor

Meet Dr. Iwan James: cyclist, doctor, would-be lover, former heavy metal fan, and, above all, human being. Weighed down by his responsibilities—from diagnosing personality disorders to deciding who can hold a gun license—he doubts his ability to make decisions about the lives of others when he may need more than a little help himself. Cartoonist and doctor Ian Williams introduces us to Iwan’s troubled life as all humanity, it seems, passes through his surgery doors.

“An unusually affecting little story, and a pioneering one at that. . . . The territory of doctor as patient has been visited before, but Dr. Williams’s iteration and its resolution are as subtle and thought provoking as the best of them.”—Abigail Zuger, M.D., New York Times

“A helpful, insightful adventure into the dynamic of the doctor-patient relationship. The Bad Doctor’s elegant renderings illuminate the mind and explore the relationships that don’t always have a happy ending.”—Ron Turner, Last Gasp Comics

“Ian Williams is the best thing to happen to medicine since penicillin.”—Alison Bechdel, 2014 MacArthur Fellow

“Skillfully told, relentlessly honest, often funny, and painfully true . . . this is courageous work. It undercuts the accepted nonsense that doctors are—or should be expected to be—seraphic beings, exalted above the rest of humanity. It should be read by every student and practicing professional out there, and in the larger world as well. Ian Williams is my hero and I wish he were my doctor, too!”—David Small, author of Stitches: A Memoir

“This unputdownable graphic novel, like all great literature, makes you feel slightly less alone. Ian Williams gently points out what’s under our noses but what we might not yet have managed to articulate. It shows us—through good observation and by being funny—how the ordinary is extraordinary.”—Philippa Perry, author of Couch Fiction: A Graphic Tale of Psychotherapy

“Gentle, thoughtful, humorous, and with a real light touch.”—Bryan Talbot, author of The Adventures of Luther Arkwright

“Amazing. . . . Crafted with a consistent wit in which the cartoon narrator spares himself no less than his patients. This profoundly honest doctor pursues his humanitarian mission while exorcising personal demons. Ian Williams gives us a dose of insight and laughter that is germane not only to the comics medium but also to medicine itself.”—Justin Green, author of Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary

“This serious yet sometimes puckish slice-of-life drama makes the ‘revered physician’ into an everyman who evokes sympathy from readers, doctors or not. Those fond of reality-based stories will enjoy this.”—Martha Cornog, Library Journal

“Williams, a physician, visual artist, and illustrator, paints a very human portrait of his main character, touching on themes such as ‘difficult patients,’ physician burnout, mental illness, medical bureaucracy, and personal and professional clashes among doctors.”—Jessica Bylander, Health Affairs

“A richly humane picture of a good man who can’t appreciate how good he is.”—Publishers Weekly

Ian Williams is a visual artist and illustrator, a medical doctor, and an independent humanities scholar. He founded the website GraphicMedicine.org and is co-editor of the Graphic Medicine series published by Penn State Press.

General Interest

Graphic Studies