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Title: Blankets
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| CONSUMER ADVICE |
Despite this being an excellent book all around, this book is definetly not for kids. The book contains mature subject matter such as sexual harrasment, masturbation, racism, divorce, violence, homosexuality, and more. Parents may want to keep this in mind before letting their kids read this book. People who love romance stories will love this book, as it contains one of the most realistic and beautiful love stories to be told in comic book form. People who usually don't read American comic books may want to make a note to check this book out, as the depth of the characters and story may catch you completely off guard. |
Since I launched this website, there is one complaint that I've gotten a lot, and that complaint is, "you don't review enough American comic books, all you seem interested in reviewing is manga." And you know what? This statement is absolutely true. It's true that I don't review that many American comics as I could be reviewing, and it's true that I do have more of an interest in reviewing manga, but honestly, can you blame me? I mean, compared to American comics (where the market is made up of a good 90% of nothing but superhero and action series) manga is much more diverse, interesting, there are many more different genres in manga to work with than in American comics... in fact, there's just more manga out there PERIOD! I mean, there is only so many times I can review Spider-Man and Batman books and still have something interesting to say about them. Basically, I prefer to review manga because in general, manga IS more interesting to read and review!
However, that doesn't mean that there aren't any good American comics out there, they are just a little harder to find, is all. "Blankets" has got to be the most daring graphic novel ever created. The book clocks in at over 500 pages, it was written and drawn by only one man (Craig Thompson, who also had complete control over the editorial choices behind releasing the book), and this is the longest one shot comic ever written, as "Blankets" was neither serialized in a magazine or released monthly; it was released as a complete book, and in a way that may technically make "Blankets" the ultimate comic book. But "Blankets" deserves to be checked out not only for its impressive size and bold ambitions, but because it's also a really good book in general: a personal story of first love, sins of the past, and the re-evaluating of one man's faith in Christ. The main character of this book is named Craig (yeah, I know, you can't get any more obvious than that, now can you), and the story he has to tell will blow your mind in a way you wouldn't think a story like this would. See, there is technically nothing special about Craig's life. As a kid his parents were questionable, he was picked on by the school bullies and teacher, he and his brother were sexually harassed by the babysitter, and the only thing that keeps Craig going is knowing that Jesus is saving a spot for him up in heaven when he dies.
Then one day, during a Winter Christian Camp event, Craig meets the beautiful and kind Raina. It's love at first sight for both of them, and Raina comes up with the idea that Craig could come visit her at her home for two weeks in Michigan. After some convincing and deal making, Craig finally convinces his parents to let him visit Raina. When Craig gets to Raina's house, he finds out that her parents are in the middle of a divorce, Raina is seriously having struggles with her faith, and that Raina has a shy and mentally retarded brother named Ben, and a 17-year-old sister named Laura who has the mental capacity of a 2-year-old (literally). As Craig and Raina spend more time together, Craig reflects on his life, his Christianity, how Raina treats her brother and sister compared to how he treated/treats his brother, and as he does all this, he and Raina fall more and more in love with each other. In a strange way, the story of "Blankets" isn't really that deep. With the exception of a better then usual ending, the material in this story is your pretty standard "boy meet girl" story. However, the way it is told is what sets it apart from everything else out there. Describing how this story is told is not an easy task, because quite frankly, there is no way to describe the way the story is told. Thompson uses a very interesting choice of art in the telling of the story, where the art can be realistic while at the same time being quite smooth and free of logic. It doesn't make much sense when I say it, but when you see the artwork, you'll know what I mean.
Thompson also frequently uses flashbacks and dream sequences as a way to tell his story, and it is during these times that the book becomes more than just a simple comic book, but instead becomes a real form of artistic poetry. Aside from the excellent (and at times very interesting) artwork, Thompson also realized that if he focused all his energies on just the story, then the whole book would fall apart because of the lack of an interesting idea. Instead he focuses all his energy on developing the characters, their pasts, their feelings, and what makes them tick. There is one scene where Raina's dad looks around his living room, picks up an old photo album, and looks around the room again with a tear in his eye. There are no words used in this scene (not even a sound effect), but on the other hand no words are needed to describe what this man is feeling and thinking. On the other hand, sometimes you need to hear the words without being distracted, and when the dialog is more essential to read than it is to see the artwork, Thompson wisely cuts back on the artwork, usually only giving us one or two characters to look at while the text fills the rest of the page. There are even some pages that require a mix of the words and the artwork, and these pages usually have the look and feel of a Picasso painting. These pages are actually some of the most effective pages in the book, as you realize this guy could have been an excellent and inspirational painter, and instead he chose to draw comic books for a living (note to Craig: thank you).
Aside from the excellent way the story is told in flashbacks and dream sequences, the book's real grabber is its heart. The characters in this book all have questions, they all ponder the meaning of their life, the conversations about Christianity are realistic and thought-provoking (even though I disagree with a couple of the cases the book makes against Christianity, I can't deny that the way Christians are portrayed is fairly balanced), the characters are either likable or they aren't, but one thing they never are is boring. If it weren't for the ending, this would be a perfect book. No, the ending isn't BAD per se, but it ends on a very realistic note...maybe even too realistic! I say this because the ending doesn't really resolve too much. Without giving away the ending, to say that the ending may feel anticlimatic to some people is an understatement, as the book closes just when things seem to be getting started. Again, it's in no way a BAD ending (I thought it was quite good myself), but the disappointment people have felt with the ending is understandable, and I can't say I don't see eye-to-eye on the complaints, because to some degree I do. All in all, the ending is something that will always be up for debate, and regardless of whether you like the ending or not, you will have to agree that the ending comes short of being perfect. Ending aside however, "Blankets" is a masterpiece. It gets every emotion from love, to fear, to hate just right, and if you are a fan of good literature in general, you deserve to check it out.
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