Posts tagged graphic novels

The first Jeff Lemire comic I read was Essex County, his huge (and I mean huge) tribute to rural Canadian life. As a guy who grew up on the cusp of the community that Essex portrayed, I felt a little bit of attachment to it; in the long haul, it’s one of my favourite graphic novels to read start-to-finish,and I can definitely recommend it as essential Canadian lit.

Lemire’s style isn’t one I thought I’d end up liking, but now I have an appreciation for how much emotion he can pack into panels that are the opposite of sharp, clean lines. Below is my review for his earlier title, Lost Dogs, which I had a chance to pick up at TCAF 2012. Click the read more link to see it.

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I’m not sure why, but for the last little while I’ve been on a pretty big kick when it comes to autobiographical comics.

Perhaps it’s because I’m going through some pretty big changes in my life right now, and seeing what other people are going through/have gone through acts like a bit of a salve. Being able to relate to a story really increases my enjoyment of it, and stories rooted in personal journeys (not necessarily non-fiction) tend to resonate especially well.

I picked up Jeffrey Brown’s Unlikely at TCAF this year after looking at the back and determining that this might be something I could dig. It reads:

250+ pages of young love, sex, drugs, heartbreak & comedy.

How could I say no to that, right?

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So, after a couple weeks of wrangling, I finally got my review of Chester Brown’s “Paying For It” online at the Torontoist! I’m actually really proud of this piece, as it’s my first attempt at long-form literary review that doesn’t have copious amounts of “I” pronouns in it. I’d appreciate you all reading it :)

“Paying For It” is an autobiographical story about the author’s use of prostitutes between a period of March 1999 and January 2004. The novel covers every experience he had with them within its pages, along with introspective portions and conversations with his friends. It’s actually quite a good read, but the author kind of mucks it up at the end.

The appendices’ images also illustrate the power of two lines; a number of the questioning figures are depicted with “angry eyebrows.” This can be construed as a classic technique to improve the credibility of the speaker by portraying their opponents as irrational or unrefined. Most of the speakers who offer counter-arguments to Brown’s views in these sections are portrayed in this way. We’ve included two examples, below.

Images from Paying for It.

The speaker on the right seems more rational and level-headed, doesn’t she?

Brown’s story and appendices should really be viewed separately. After reading the intensely personal story of a man who is trying to figure out what works for him, reading arguments on why a person’s way of thinking isn’t rational just seems a bit hypocritical.