Books: Blankets

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Blankets
by Craig Thompson
2003





Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/


True story: this middle-aged woman who didn't speak very good English turned up at one of the Islington Comic Forum meetings - she came in - sat down - and looked around. I went over to say hi and she started gesturing at all the books on the table: "What is all this?" she said. "Is this a joke? These things - these are for children - no? Is this a joke? Why you read this? What is this?" ... I tried my best to explain: "Well. Yeah. Comics can be for children - but most of the ones we've got here - well - adults can read them too."

She didn't look convinced.

So - I looked around and saw a copy of Blankets sitting near us (it's hard to miss - it's a very thick looking book - in fact I think "tome" might be a more appropriate word - but whatever) - I reached out for it and brought it over. "Here," I said "why don't you try reading this and see what you think?"

She still didn't look convinced.

But I put it in front of her - and then to give her some space I walked around and spoke to some other people ("What Grant Morrison have you read then?" and all that).

Five minutes I returned to see how she was getting on. "So - what do you think?"

Startled she stopped reading and looked up at me and then nodded very slowly (not one word of a lie): "Yes." she said "This is really good. I understand now. "  

So - yeah - Blankets. One of the most well received comic books of recent years ("...more poem than story...") this is a comic that will bind you in it's spell of first love, romance and loss. My first draft of this was just the word "beautiful" repeated 100 times and (sorry) but I don't know if this revision is going to be any less mawkish - but hell - have you ever tried to explain why you love someone without sounding like a total sappy jellyfish?

With every line and word and empty space perfectly pitched to make your insides vibrate and your heart smash into tiny pieces: feels less like a book and more like someone whispering in your ear. If most other comic books (and I don't mean this in a bad way) feel like bands playing rock and roll then Blankets is a confessional singer-songwriter armed with an acoustic guitar, fragile voice and softly sung lyrics that feel as raw and exposed as it's possible to get without simply ripping open your heart. Sample Amazon review (that I just have to share): "All I will say is that my Mother, who never reads comics or graphic novels, was moved to tears several times whilst reading Blankets after I recommended it to her. Powerful stuff that is heartwarming, endearing, funny and beautiful."

I tried to get my flatmate (the one I'm always trying to get to read comics but is often too busy reading 'proper novels') to read Blankets and gave him a copy that then spent a couple of weeks (or more) sitting on his bedside table. And after all that he eventually gave it back to me - unread. "I read what you wrote about it on your blog and it kind of put me off" he said. So in response to that: ok - yeah. This is a book that deals with a lot of mushy stuff and yeah it's emotional hardcore and all the rest - but goddamn it - it's so perfectly realised that not falling in love with it would be like not feeling your heart ache watching a Pixar film (and that's something that's just not humanly possible). Also: yeah - it has kids peeing on each other - so it's not all  holier than thou.

Basically: just read it. You can thank me later.

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Links: Comics Journal Interview with Craig Thompson.

Further reading: Habibi, Fun Home, Cages, Persepolis, Black Hole, Scott Pilgrim, Lost at Sea, Jar of Fools, Blue Pills, Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth.

All comments welcome.

Books: Habibi

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Habibi
By Craig Thompson
2011





Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/


Oh my.

From the sheer heft of it (672 pages!) to the countless plaudits it's received ("A landmark" "An instant classic" "a universe unto itself" etc etc etc) to the fact that it took seven years to complete - and well - just by looking at the ornately beautiful swirling and intertwining decorative elements on the cover (and it's no coincidence that it's packaging makes it so closely resemble a Bible or Qur'an) : it's clear that this is a major, big, fat, important, all-caps type of book: one that leaves any (and all) self-respecting comic fan with no choice: this is something that you need to have read if you want other comic fans to take you seriously (and we all want to be taken seriously - right?).

The long awaited follow-up (like I said above - seven years!) to Thompson's stunning autobiographical Blankets (which you very much need to read if you haven't already had the pleasure) Habibi is an epic meditation on (amongst other things) religion, stories, environmentalism and arabic language wrapped around a fairytale-like love story between two lost souls.

Elsewhere - I've previously described Blankets as feeling like a softly strummed acoustic ballad played with a lone singer and guitar: Habibi (generally) aims more for the head than for the heart and comes across like a big orchestral workout with a lots of extravagant flourishes and virtuoso performances overlaid with complex  squiggles and off-beat time signatures: so even tho it retains his clear and precise artwork the whole feeling and tone is much much different. Less weepy and insular and more elevated and far-reaching...  

But what did I think of it? Well... It some way it reminds me of Terrence Malick's film The Tree of Life (which - again - is something you should see if you haven't already) - Habibi is obviously obviously a massively impressive and monumental achievement  (672 pages!) but as much as it kept me gripped and enthralled: and as moving and emotional as the central story was: and as lavish and spectacular as the artwork manages to be at pretty much all points - at the end of it all I was left a little... cold (sorry Craig). In all of it's lumbering majestic glory and intricate designs - by the time it had finished I realised that it gave me to a chance to properly fall inside it - rather - I felt like I'd spent the whole book held at arms length and any emotion that was glimpsed was held underneath the glass: instead of getting a picnic - it's more a trip to the museum: where there's lots of wonders and exciting and interesting things to learn - but a lack (somewhat) of proper deep down human connection. In some respects I guess it's almost as if Habibi's careful structure, and meticulous layout kept me from falling properly in love: it's too beautiful, too splendid, too decadent (at least for my tastes).

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Links: Comic Book Resources Review, New York Times Review, Financial Times Review, Guardian Review, Comics Journal Article: A Habibi Roundtable, AV Club Interview with Craig Thompson, Hooded Utilitarian Article: Can the Subaltern Draw?: The Spectre of Orientalism in Craig Thompson’s Habibi / Hooded Ultilitarian Article: A Conversation about Habibi’s Orientalism with Craig Thompson / Hooded Utilitarian Article: DWYCK: Open Sesame, Comic Book Resources Interview.

Further reading: Blankets, Buddha, Promethea, Cages, Footnotes in Gaza, Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth, The Arrival, Maus, From Hell, The Sandman, Don Quixote, Are You My Mother?.

All comments welcome.