Blankets : Craig Thompson

I will be moving into more recent work this week with Blankets, an autobiographical graphic novel by Craig Thompson.

What struck me right away when reading Blankets was how engaging Craig can make a mundane, personal story. It's easy to forget that many of the childhood tales he relates in the novel are those that would likely be considered boring in any other medium. However, Craig uses his expert paneling and illustration skills to draw us into the action and make us engaged in the childhood play.

Craig's mastery of the comic medium also shines in how he shows his perception of the world. His childhood church school teacher, for example, shifts from a rosy, plump old woman to a looming, shadowed figure depending on what she is teaching.

Similarly, Craig's depictions of himself range from scratchy, ink-brushed and spiky drawings when he is upset, to beautiful, curving abstractions when happy.

These radical visual shifts in Blankets were what really struck me as something relatable in the novel. Representing emotion this way illustrates how everyone feels when our internal words run rampant--about the good or the bad--and how we feel our entire self completely changes.

These changes in the drawing style of Blankets also force the reader to empathize more with Craig's plight. We are psychologically tuned to find curves friendly and sharp angles more upsetting and dangerous, and the drawings use this to make us feel what comic Craig feels.

After reading Blankets I'm excited to dive into more of Craig Thompson's work, as he can really use the comics medium to its full potential.

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