592 pages…that’s a hefty comic! At first I was intimidated by the size of this book, but it’s actually a pretty quick read. Not to say the content is exactly light. Already a fan of Thompson’s work (the whimsical and bittersweet graphic novel Goodbye, Chunky Rice and his fun strips for several kids’ magazines), I was doubly impressed by the expressive line work and evocative landscapes in Blankets. Early on I realized the story is autobiographical, but wondered exactly how much so as he dragged certain skeletons out of his – and more daringly, relatives’ and friends’ – closets. He claims in interviews that it’s pretty much all laid bare and true, the only editing of his life done in order to simplify things to fit within an already lengthy tome. He’s a braver man than me, offering deep introspection on his strict Christian upbringing, being an outsider in a rural small town, and most importantly his first love. (There are some other painful surprises and undertones which I won’t spoil.) As with many true-life stories, this one has quirky elements and tangents that just aren’t easily made up. Not only is the writing excellent and rich, but Thompson’s mastery of the comics form is graceful and impressive. Paired pages have the effect of well-designed diptychs. Surreal elements permeate the naturalist settings, and figures transform to express emotion. Events are told out of order to reveal patterns and themes. Much of the mood is created by the complex internal dialogue of an insecure adolescent, and we can “read” events as much with composition as with actual words. Thompson says Blankets needed to be created as therapy and to put some things to rest. I’m sure it also opened up an avenue for some difficult conversations with his distant parents. I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next, and wonder how he’ll ever top this work.

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