Identical is the story of two twin girls born in the not-so-distant future, where fertility treatments have begun to use new, AI “technology.” Their mother, desperate to have a baby, has sought out this new technology to get pregnant. After they are born, she slowly begins to suspect that one twin is human... while the other is not. Narrated by one of the twins themselves, Identical takes the reader down an uncanny odyssey of self-discovery... one where you are never sure which “self” you really are. Hayes uses her own experience as an identical twin to explore the realms of sameness and difference, separation and unity. After many years of illustrating books about others (Not Funny Ha-Ha: A Handbook for Something Hard), Identical marks Hayes’s first time turning the pen inward — bravely exploring the powerful bond that has defined her entire life. Hayes’s engaging and aesthetically avant garde contemporary storytelling, combining elements of science fiction and magic realism, make for one of the most unique graphic novels of 2026.
