The Birthday Riots

by Nabiel Kanan

A graphic novel tells the story of Max Collins, a campaign advisor to a London mayoral candidate, whose life takes a drastic turn when his teenage daughter gets caught up in a wave of political unrest, and Max is torn between his current political allegiences and his radical past.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics

64 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2001

Reviews

[Alessandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nabiel Kanan’s The Birthday Riots is the kind of graphic novel that lingers long after you turn the final page. What begins as a sharply observed political drama gradually unfolds into something much more intimate and unsettling—a story about loyalty, identity, and the uneasy compromises we make as we grow older.
At the center is Max Collins, a campaign advisor to a London mayoral candidate, a man who has clearly learned how to navigate power, messaging, and political calculation. But when his teenage daughter becomes entangled in a surge of political unrest sweeping the city, Max is forced into a deeply personal reckoning. The conflict is not just external—between state and protestors, order and chaos—but internal: between the man he once was and the man he has chosen to become.
Kanan’s script is exceptionally tight and intelligent. The political backdrop never feels like mere scenery; it pulses with urgency and relevance. Yet the real strength of the book lies in its emotional core. The father-daughter dynamic is handled with nuance and restraint, making the generational divide feel painfully authentic rather than rhetorical. There are no easy villains here—only people caught in systems, ideologies, and histories that refuse to stay buried.
What impressed me most is how balanced and humane the storytelling is. The novel doesn’t preach. Instead, it invites reflection. It asks uncomfortable questions about compromise, idealism, and whether radicalism is a phase we outgrow—or a truth we betray.
Visually and narratively cohesive, The Birthday Riots is a story that feels timely without being opportunistic. It leaves a mark because it understands that political turmoil is never abstract—it’s lived, personal, and often painfully close to home.
A thoughtful, resonant, and beautifully constructed work.

[Juan Fuentes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Emotiva historia acerca de como nos cambia cumplir años y como dejamos de lado los sueños de nuestra juventud. Recomendable.

[StrictlySequential · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't get enough Kanan- this is his best one yet! I only have one more to go and it's expensive but it's going to be worth it

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 2 out of 5]

Random find at the library. The premise is gold: a former radical professor, our protagonist took a job running political campaigns, and, with the extra money, moved his family to the country; currently running a mayoral campaign amidst growing anti-traveler anxiety while a former student is imprisoned and on hunger strike, he starts to realize he's sold out. Meanwhile, his daughter is about to turn fifteen, has sympathies with the anti-government forces, and leaves home to join them when her father fails her.

There's more, here, making for a rather complex piece for the form. I wanted to like it more, but the main character is shown as irresistible to women--his wife wants him first thing, he remembers an affair with a a student, and the new media liaison for the campaign propositions him right away. Seems like authorial wishing rather than realistic. Big distraction from the main father-daughter relationship, but, I suppose, the affair and the selling-out make the ending more acceptable......

[Mza · Rating 2 out of 5]

Naive politics, sloppy-fitting magical realism, unearned sentimentality, poorly-drawn men's hair -- it's hard to say which of these was The Birthday Riots' most irritating weakness. Perhaps the straight-outta-porn setup to an attempt at adultery trumps all of these. I've enjoyed Kanan's cartooning in the past. Even here, his sketchy, low-contrast (very white) pages have a primitive immediacy that satisfies my need for speed. The sketchiness of the story itself -- especially its threadbare moralizing -- is the dealbreaker. The same type of naive material was handled with a lot more punk charm by Morrison and Grist in St Swithin's Day . I'm going to go excavate that and Kanan's Exit and see if they hold up under my withering middle-aged scrutiny.

[Terry Mulcahy · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's something about this story that drew me in. Perhaps it's the topical nature of the events, the controversies that we all live in. Perhaps it's the angst of the young. Perhaps it's my own ennui. It can be devastating to realize that your idealism hasn't gone away, that it's you that has run away from that sort of life, and there are always consequences. I rarely find a graphic novel that I give 5 stars to, but I knew that was my rating before I'd even finished it. I don't rate graphic novels high because the writing is so sparse, and the story so short, but this story resonated, as Comics Lit stories do. Now I'm disturbed and restless. But that's what good literature can do.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this to be a fairly enjoyable tale with a surprising amount of philosophical inquiry. The story itself was actually somewhat bland, lacking the color and pacing that other graphic novels possess. However, Kanan more than made up for this through the psychological themes that persisted just below the surface, inviting the reader to explore the characters (and thus themselves) further.

[Nitya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick read that follows a couple of days in the life of a political campaigner, who is forced to confront the failed promises he made to his wife, daughter, protege as he compromised his ideals in the face of temptation and material comfort. It deals with contemporary social conflict, but in a rushed manner, hurrying towards a rather gruesome ending. Not quite satisfying.

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice to see someone tell a fully developed story in less than 60 comic pages. The politics are interesting but mostly serve as the base for the real story of a father's failing relationship with his daughter. Kanan doesn't seem to have enough different facial expressions to capture all the emotion via his drawings, but the writing makes up for it.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Man, this one took a turn. I was following along, enjoying the political back-and-forth of the immigration issues with the London mayoral campaign. The plot with the daughter and the tree-house seemed a little far-fetched, but I was really soured on this book by the disproportionately grim ending.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

a graphic novel about the occupy movement written in 2001

[Zanne]

14.95