Blankets (comics)

Blankets

Cover art by Craig Thompson.
Publication information
Publisher Top Shelf Productions
Genre Autobiography
Romance
Drama
Publication date July 23, 2003
Creative team
Writer(s) Craig Thompson
Artist(s) Craig Thompson
Collected editions
Paperback ISBN 1-891830-43-0

Blankets is an autobiographical graphic novel by Craig Thompson, published in 2003 by Top Shelf Productions. As a coming-of-age autobiography, the book tells the story of Thompson's childhood in an Evangelical Christian family, his first love, and his early adulthood. The book was widely acclaimed, with Time magazine ranking it #1 in its 2003 Best Comics list, and #8 in its Best Comics of the Decade.

Publication history

In late 1999, Thompson began work on the graphic novel, which was published three and a half years later in 2003.[1] Thompson produced the books as a way of coming out to his parents about no longer being a Christian.[2]

Main characters

Synopsis

Childhood scene in Blankets in which Craig and Phil find a pair of animal skulls.

Blankets chronicles Craig's adolescence and young adulthood, his childhood relationship with his younger brother, and the conflicts he experiences regarding Christianity and his first love. Though written chronologically, Thompson uses flashbacks as a literary and artistic device in order to parallel young adult experience with past childhood experience. Major literary themes of the work include: first love, child and adult sexuality, spirituality, sibling relationships, and coming of age.

Craig begins by describing his relationship with his brother during their childhood in Wisconsin. They have devoutly religious parents. Thompson also depicts a male babysitter sexually abusing both Craig and his younger brother, Phil. Craig suffers harassment from bullies at school and at church. Through his teen years, he continues to find it hard to fit in with his peers, but at Bible camp one winter, he comes to associate with a group of outcast teens which includes a girl named Raina, who develops an interest in Craig. The two become inseparable, and continue their relationship through letters and phone calls. They arrange to spend two weeks together at Raina's home in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Craig arrives and meets Raina’s family, which includes her two adopted siblings, Ben and Laura, her older biological sister Julie, and her parents, who are undergoing a divorce. Raina feels responsible for taking care of Ben and Laura, who are mentally handicapped, as well as Julie’s newborn daughter. Despite growing closer during the visit, the two return to their separate lives, but Raina eventually decides to break off the relationship. They maintain a friendship for a time, talking on the phone with diminishing frequency (and increasing inanity). Ultimately, Craig tells Raina that their friendship, too, is over. Craig then destroys everything Raina had ever given to him, and every memento of their relationship, except for the quilt she made. He stores it in the attic of his childhood home, and moves out to start his own life elsewhere. Craig comes to terms with religion and spiritual identity while away from his family, and confides in his brother that he is no longer a Christian, but still believes in God and the teachings of Jesus. He returns to his childhood home after several years, seemingly a different person.

Reception

Craig Thompson sketches Raina in a copy of the book at a September 20, 2011 book signing at Midtown Comics in Manhattan.

Blankets received considerable attention in the comics and mainstream book press; it was extremely well received and eventually won numerous awards (see below). Most critics considered it a milestone in the progress of the American graphic novel, not only in length but also in visual grace and technique. Critics have further hailed it as one of the best graphic novels in recent years, claiming that the book will be remembered for its superb execution a decade after publication.

The Bloomsbury Review called it "a superb example of the art of cartooning: the blending of word and picture to achieve an effect that neither is capable of without the other." Time stated that Thompson's work "has set new bars for the medium not just in length, but breadth" and listed it as #1 in its 2003 Best Comics of the Year list,[3] and ranked it as #8 in its 10 Best Comics of the Decade.[4] The book was called a "magnum opus" in the inaugural issue of (Cult)ure Magazine.[5] Publishers Weekly wrote that "Thompson manages to explore adolescent social yearnings, the power of young love and the complexities of sexual attraction with a rare combination of sincerity, pictorial lyricism and taste".[6]

As a result of Blankets, he rose quickly to the top ranks of American cartoonists in both popularity and critical esteem. Pulitzer Prize-winning comic artist Art Spiegelman sent him a long letter of praise for the work,[2][7] and in mock-jealousy, Eddie Campbell expressed a temptation to break Thompson's fingers.[8] Another Pulitzer Prize-winning comic author, Jules Feiffer, wrote that Thompson's "expert blending of words and pictures and resonant silences makes for a transcendent kind of story-telling that grabs you as you read it and stays with you after you put it down".[9] Alan Moore praised the book in interviews as "an incredibly heartwarming human document" adding that he found it "touching and engrossing", and publicly defended it when it was attacked as pornography (see below).[10] Neil Gaiman wrote, "I thought it was moving, tender, beautifully drawn, painfully honest, and probably the most important graphic novel since Jimmy Corrigan".[11]

Thompson said that he believes Blankets was a success because he was "reacting against all of the over-the-top, explosive action genre [in alternative comics, and] I also didn’t want to do anything cynical and nihilistic, which is the standard for a lot of alternative comics."[1] Despite the praise heaped upon the book, it resulted in tension between Thompson and his parents for a couple of years after they read it.[2]

In October 2006, a resident of Marshall, Missouri, attempted to have Blankets and Fun Home by Alison Bechdel removed from the city's public library.[12] Supporters of the books' removal characterized them as "pornography" and expressed concern that they would be read by children.[13] Marshall Public Library Director Amy Crump defended the books as having been well-reviewed in "reputable, professional book review journals," and characterized the removal attempt as a step towards "the slippery slope of censorship".[12][13] On October 11, 2006, the library's board appointed a committee to create a materials selection policy, and removed Blankets and Fun Home from circulation until the new policy was approved.[14][15] The committee "decided not to assign a prejudicial label or segregate [the books] by a prejudicial system",[16] and presented a materials selection policy to the board.[17] On March 14, 2007, the Marshall Public Library Board of Trustees voted to return both Blankets and Fun Home to the library's shelves.[18]

Awards

Editions

Covers of the French, Spanish and Italian editions of Blankets (from left to right)

Editions are available in English, Catalan, French, Spanish, German, Danish, Dutch, Italian, Czech, Polish, Slovenian, Greek, Serbian, Norwegian and Portuguese. Additionally, the English, Serbian and Dutch[23] versions were available in a limited-edition hardcover volume and Polish was available with special cover jacket for those who preordered the book. There is also an accompanying soundtrack, recorded by the Portland, Oregon-based band, Tracker. The French, Spanish and Italian editions all have different cover art. The first Italian edition has a red spine, while subsequent editions have a blue one.

References

  1. 1 2 Heater, Brian. "Interview: Craig Thompson Pt. 1 (of 2)". The Daily Cross Hatch. 2007-05-07. Retrieved on 2007-12-10.
  2. 1 2 3 Mechanic, Michael. "Craig Thompson—The Devil Made Me Draw It". Mother Jones. September/October 2011
  3. ↑ Arnold, Andrew. (Dec. 18, 2003). "Top 10 Everything 2003: 1. Blankets by Craig Thompson". Time. accessed September 21, 2011.
  4. ↑ Rooney, Katie (December 8, 2009). blankets/ "8. Blankets". Time.
  5. ↑ Johns, Kevin. "Sexuality, Art and Religion in Craig Thompson's Blankets" Archived March 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.. (Cult)ure Magazine. September 2007. Retrieved on 2008-04-04.
  6. ↑ Reviews: Blankets by Craig Thompson, Publishers Weekly
  7. ↑ Gallivan, Joseph. "Blankets’ statement: Craig Thompson’s new graphic novel is the epic story of his younger self losing his religion". Portland Tribune. 2003-08-15. Retrieved on 2007-12-10.
  8. ↑ Eddie Campbell. The Comics Journal. issue 266.
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ COMICS, SEXUALITY, AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY Archived April 7, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.
  11. ↑ Blankets (Original Softcover)
  12. 1 2 Sims, Zach (2006-10-03). "Library trustees to hold hearing on novels". Marshall Democrat-News. Retrieved 2006-10-08.
  13. 1 2 Sims, Zach (2006-10-05). "Library board hears complaints about books/Decision scheduled for Oct. 11 meeting". Marshall Democrat-News. Retrieved 2006-10-08.
  14. ↑ Brady, Matt (2006-10-12). "MARSHALL LIBARAY BOARD VOTES TO ADOPT MATERIALS SELECTION POLICY". Newsarama. Archived from the original on 2006-11-19. Retrieved 2006-10-12.
  15. ↑ Sims, Zach (2006-10-12). "Library board votes to remove 2 books while policy for acquisitions developed". Marshall Democrat-News. Retrieved 2006-10-12.
  16. ↑ Harper, Rachel (2007-01-25). "Library board ready to approve new materials selection policy". Marshall Democrat-News. Retrieved 2007-01-26.
  17. ↑ Harper, Rachel (2007-02-08). "Library policy has first reading". Marshall Democrat-News. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
  18. ↑ Harper, Rachel (2007-03-15). "Library board approves new policy/Material selection policy created, controversial books returned to shelves". Marshall Democrat-News. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
  19. 1 2 3 "2004 Harvey Award Winners". The Harvey Awards. Retrieved November 14, 2011.
  20. 1 2 2004 "Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards". Hahn Library. Retrieved November 14, 2011.
  21. 1 2 "2004 Ignatz Award Recipients". Small Press Expo. Retrieved November 14, 2011.
  22. ↑ Brown, Tyler. "Blankets". Kansas State Collegian. December 7, 2010
  23. ↑ Two Dutch versions at Zilveren Dolfijn comics database
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/18/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.