I attended the San Diego Comic Con last month and had a ball walking around the small presses and self published books and picking up some of the works they were selling. Here is the first posting of some of the books and my thoughts on them.
North Country by Shane White
This autobiographical graphic novel is told in a series of flash backs as an adult Shane returns home for a visit. Starting with his "first life" as a bird who dies when he falls out of his nest, the rest of the story are is told in snippets of mostly bad memories from his dysfunctional family life. The abusive, alcoholic father is the focal point of the book as Shane relates stories on how he tried to win his approval ultimately come to terms within himself of understanding, accepting and perhaps even loving his family.
The art in this book is really interesting. Shane changes styles for each memory vignette he relates. This gives the book a dreamlike quality that works well. When young Shane is given a Superman cape, the art is changed to look like old comic book newsprint. The color palettes change as good and bad memories often using more muted, less vibrant colors to emphasize the drama of the situations.
When I met Shane at the Comic Con, he was working in his sketchbook at the NBM Publishers booth. He was promoting an upcoming book he did called Things Undone. Its about a young man who slowly changes into a zombie. And he says, like North County it is also autobiographical. I'll be sure to pick it up in the near future.
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