Another graphic novel, that we at Book Group read along with the previously posted Blankets, was Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home. I frequently accidentally call this graphic novel Fun House. It is an honest mistake I promise.

Comparively, this one is (much) darker, more literary, deals with sexual exploration (in the what-is-my-sexuality-orientation-vein), and of course is set between a funeral home and their own large victorian house. It is strange and morbid, but that I enjoyed. The illustrations however, did not lead me to the same emotional response that Blankets did.

Blankets, a long, quick graphic novel that recounts the Craig Thompson’s own story of first love. While a bit sappy at moments, the story comes across as honest and a plausible look back at growing up. Additionally the novel is very well illustrated. Many of the pages stand on their own, apart from the framework they have been set up in, as pieces of art.

Even at six-hundred pages, it moves quickly, pulling you in right from the start. Oh! And, it has been banned, likely due to its somewhat negative spin on Christianity and its later scenes of, well, young adults being young adults. So. If you are going to read a coming of age story, you might as well read it with pictures.

This was an awful graphic novel. I chose it because I thought it would be interesting to reread Beowulf as a graphic novel instead of the poem. But instead I was annoyed at having wasted so much of my time. The battle scenes didn’t even have words. If I hadn’t read the poem, i wouldn’t even know what was going on. The graphics aren’t well drawn; it’s a lot of dark colors and ridiculous looking creatures. But if you’re a fan of little words and violent imagery, this is your book.

This graphic novel really encompasses three plotlines: the Monkey King, who attempts to become something other than what he is; Jin Yang, who moves to a community where he stands out because he is Asian American; and Danny, an American boy ashamed of his Chinese cousin Chin-Kee. I am not a graphic novel fan; in fact, in general I hate them. But this was so well done, and read so quickly. The graphics and coloring are perfect; some novels are very jarring but the colors stand out without being so bold as to detract from the story itself.