Blankets

Here's an exercise in futility: Go to your local bookstore, pick up Blankets, the graphic memoir-novel by Craig Thompson, and read the first 20 pages. Then try to put it down before you get to page 100. You might not even be able to put it down at that point. You'll feel the gamut of emotion laid out in illustration--insecurity, infatuation, love, fear, guilt, confusion, loneliness, you name it. It won't just remind you of how you felt at this certain time; you'll feel it in your gut, presently, because he draws you back into scenes from your own life. That's the best I can explain it. You'll have to pick it up and try the above exercise and see for yourself. If you were in the "in" crowd back in school, or if you never questioned the things you were taught or told, you might succeed in the exercise, because you just won't "get" the book.

You can preview some of Blankets here.

Here are a couple of scanned pages: