The Only Child

In The Only Child, published by Random House from 2015 onward, Chinese artist Guojing crafts a wordless, emotionally resonant graphic novel about a young girl who gets lost in a snowy forest and is guided home by a mysterious stag. This single-issue work, drawn entirely in soft, cinematic black-and-white illustrations, stands as a poignant exploration of loneliness and the universal longing for connection, drawing from the creator's own childhood experiences as a only child in China under the one-child policy. Guojing's debut graphic novel earned critical acclaim for its storytelling without text, making it a standout in the genre of silent comics.