Blankets

published	2003 by Top Shelf Productions
binding	Paperback
isbn	1891830430 (isbn13: 9781891830433)
pages	592
description	From the author of the critically-acclaimed and best-selling graphic novel, Good-Bye, Chunky Rice, comes Craig Thompson's all-new masterpiece. Blanket...more [close] From the author of the critically-acclaimed and best-selling graphic novel, Good-Bye, Chunky Rice, comes Craig Thompson's all-new masterpiece. Blankets — the most anticipated graphic novel of the year — is already being regarded as THE defining moment of this comix generation. Wrapped in the landscape of a blustery Wisconsin winter, Blankets explores the sibling rivalry of two brothers growing up in the isolated country, and the budding romance of two coming-of-age lovers. A tale of security and discovery, of playfulness and tragedy, of a fall from grace and the origins of faith. A profound and utterly beautiful work.
date added	12-31-06 edit book

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The Fza rated it:

03/19/08

bookshelves: graphic-novel

A few years ago I was lent a book called "Blankets" which I read on the 5 hour trip back from New York City on a Sunday. Now to say the 600 pages just few by would not be an exaggeration. I was done with the book before we hit the Massachusetts border. I knew very little about the book, save for the blurbs on the cover, nor had I heard of it's writer/artist, Craig Thompson, before. But my friend, a struggling journalist living in Queens, told me that 'Blankets' was a semi-autobiographi...more A few years ago I was lent a book called "Blankets" which I read on the 5 hour trip back from New York City on a Sunday. Now to say the 600 pages just few by would not be an exaggeration. I was done with the book before we hit the Massachusetts border. I knew very little about the book, save for the blurbs on the cover, nor had I heard of it's writer/artist, Craig Thompson, before. But my friend, a struggling journalist living in Queens, told me that 'Blankets' was a semi-autobiographical graphic novel well worth the read.

And so being a bit of a junkie when it comes to reading (especially on these long trips) and impressed by some of the supposed 'comic books' that I have run across in my time (Mister X, From Hell, Maus, Blue Monday, etc...) reading something like this seemed an interesting diversion. Little did I know that before long I would be entangled in a fluid and focused work tracing the path of three of the author's closest relationships; his brother Phil, first love Raina, and Christianity.

What I found within these pages was a lonely and isolated young man groping around, trying find an identity. It was clear and yet emotional. It was a whirlwind, and yet structured. Like thoughts, or growing up, can be. But most importantly it was honest.

Craig's struggles with identity, love and religion are shown with no malice or mocking. The characters that populate "Blankets" reflect the emotional realities of Craig's world, while his art lets us move through his life with an intimacy that reminds us how it was, or can be, growing up. We join Craig as he begin to discover the world outside his everyday life in rural Wisconsin and how his relationships sharpen his reality and thereby his identity.

Craig was born in the mid 70's into a very Christian central Wisconsin family, and the events covered here deal with the emotional shrapnel, which results from his emerging adulthood. It's a strong work, by a new talent. In an interview for the Portland Tribune, Craig tells of his influences and goes on to tell how he drew the book on Vellum Bristol Board using a number two watercolor brush and Speedball Super Black India Ink.

But it seems to me that the best part of the interview is when he bared a bit of his soul regarding his conclusions to the questions he struggled with as young man (and shared with us in the pages of "Blankets") by saying, "There's a bitter cynicism, a nihilist attitude, about (Art) Spiegelman and (Dan) Clowes (work). I think my generation is a bit sweeter, but the sweetness is not ironic; it's sincere. I just think our attitude toward some things is more optimistic."

"Blankets" was written and drawn at night while Craig worked a full-time day job, this weighty work took nearly four years to complete. Craig has illustrated for Nickelodeon and Owl magazine, DC and Dark Horse comics. His debut graphic novel 'Goodbye, Chunky Rice' won the comics industry's esteemed Harvey award for Best New Talent, and was named by The Comics Journal as one of the Top Five Comics of 1999.

-The Following are BLURBS for "Blankets"-

The New York Times Book Review "beautifully rendered memories of small brutalities"
Publishers Weekly "sincerity, pictorial lyricism, and taste"
Time magazine "best comic of 2003"

and the Library Journal has "Blankets" on their year-end "best of list" for 2003...less

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