#119 Blankets

Craig Thompson's 592-page "illustrated novel" is a genuine comic book triumph. In his unflinching look at the saccharine ache of young love, the joys and horrors of childhood and a young man's personal struggle with religion Thompson takes the idea of long-form comic narrative a runs with it. In both content and tone Blankets harkens back to Chester Brown's outstanding autobiographical works I Never Liked Youand The Playboy, but Thompson's florid and often unfettered art grants readers a more intimate and emotionally-charged connection with his characters. Brown's approach to his own life could easily be interpreted as cold and distant. His panels are often set adrift on the black vacuum of the page. Conversely, imagination and emotion burst from Thompson's panels. The thoughts and dreams of characters bloom to life in the dancing patterns of a bedsheet and the nighttime fantasies of two brothers forced to share a bed.

Thompson's only other long-form work is the exceptional Goodbye Chunky Rice. Don't miss out on what will likely be considered one of 2003's most important comic works. Check out a sample of Blankets here.