Third Option for First Steps

Welcome back to your personalized path the comics zen, comics chaos. Earlier this week we peered down doors number one and two towards comic fulfillment, and today, I’m going to give one last first step option to all of you out there in the blogosphere.

When I was thinking about this third beginning towards comic fulfillment I realized that comics get wrongly accused of being two things.

1. Unable to handle the big issues
2. Only about make believe

And it dawned on me that some of my poor readers may be under this same sad impression. And so the comic I choose today is for all of you that may need a little extra elbow grease to be convinced that comics have something inside worth reading.

Blankets by Craig Thompson is unlike any other graphic novel out there, and it is as close as you can get to perfection in a coming of age tale. Why is this comic awesome you ask? Here are your five friendly bullet points:

• Awesome black and white penning
• A brutally beautiful first love story
• A challenging and heartwarming story of brotherhood
• A true(ish) story (ie. no superheroes)
• A very relatable story of religion

Blankets has a tenacity about it. It catches your heart strings on page one and plays all sorts of different songs on them before handing them back. It plays happy songs and sad songs and mournful songs and contemplative songs. This comic is an absolute journey and is a perfect first step on your journey out of the comics chaos.