Blanketed in Awe

I was really amazed at the wonderful feedback I received from my post 'Graphic Indifference', concerning my feelings towards most of the graphic novels I have been reading in the past few years. It was reassuring to know that there were others who also shared my ambivalent feelings about GNs; but it was also good to get the perespective of others who wanted to point out to me graphic novels worth reading and exploring in the future. Like I said before, I want to try and keep an open mind about graphic novels, but I also hope that I can find GNs that use humour to tell their stories.

But there is another element that I think is missing in a lot of graphic novels that I have come across, that I wanted to discuss. Like I stated before, quite a few popular GNs seem to focus on dark, depressing themes that give the reader no sense of hope, no sense of wonder or awe. We all know life is hard, and sometimes downright wretched, but it isn't all doom and gloom; there are moments of beauty and wonder mixed in with the sadness, and these feelings are worth sharing and exploring. I found all of these emotions and more, in the most delightful graphic novel I have read to date: Blankets.

Craig Thompson got it right. He has told a sad, sweet, first-love story mixed with sometimes painful memories of growing up in a very religious family, and never did he make it cliché or maudlin or self-indulgent. The writing is smooth and sincere and speaks straight to the heart. His use of the brush is so delicate, so strong, so heart-felt that I want to cry every time I look at his artwork. This is what I have been searching for. This is the kind of graphic novel that speaks directly to me, that touches me, and made me sad when I finally finished the book, because I wanted more.

Blankets has won this year's Ignatz Award, and is on the finalists list for a comics award called Le Grand Prix RTL de la BD. I don't care what anyone else says about Thompson winning the Ignaztz Award. He damned well deserved it. (Is is any surprise that the person who thinks that Blankets is just "mediocre self-indulgence" is the same person who compares Peanuts to the Family Circus?)

Thank you, Craig Thompson. You have proven that there is more than one way to create a graphic novel. Why is this GN so popular? Because it speaks directly to the human heart. Not unlike another awe-inspiring comic, Peanuts. Fortunately for you, most of us do 'get it'.

Comments

[Robot Johnny]

Blankets is great, although I think ultimately the art is better than the story, which at times does mildly wander into self-indulgence. Now go get his first book, Good-Bye Chunky Rice, which I think is absolutely flawless.

[Michael Nobbs]

I loved Blankets too. It was my Christmas read and really the first Graphic Novel I've read. I was a comic fiend when I was young and am just rediscovering story telling in pictures. I shall take Robot Johnny's suggestion over to my Amazon wishlist right now :o)

Best wishes from Wales

[beth kattleman]

I love Blankets! I'm a high school librarian and find that the graphic novels circulate more than anything, so I'm really focusing on building up the collection. Has anyone read Paul's Summer Job? Also bittersweet and beautifully rendered. The kids in my school never realized that graphic novels could be more than X-Men or The Hulk. I however, have known this since I was a teen and devoured everything Peter Bagge put out, as well as Lynda Barry, Love & Rockets, and those marvelous Crumbs.

[patricia]

Haven't heard of Paul's Summer Job; another one to add to the list! Thanks!

Librarians rule! (My mom's a librarian and my hubby's a library technician).