Blankets (re-visited)

The graphic novel "Blankets," done by Craig Thompson, is a memoir that shows the reader a very deep look into his life, starting with childhood. Exactly how true some of the events in the book are is not exactly clear, but part of making a great story is exaggeration. The story goes through Craig's life as he grows up and has to make some life changing decisions. We also get a very close look into his character by the way he thinks about things and the situations he's thrown into. Being an indy comic, there is not an element of fantasy or extreme adventure in Blankets that many other comics have, but what it lacks in that aspect the reader gets back in the form of a very deep and moving story of someone's life. We see a guy who is pouring everything out to us through magnificent artwork, and he does a great job of transferring that emotions to us.

Starting off, Craig shows us how he grew up in a religious household, and some of the things he and his brother went through. He even goes all out and shows us how he and his brother were apparently molested by a babysitter, something that could not have been easy to illustrate, let alone tell the world, especially with how much guilt he seems to carry. Its hard to say how much of that scene was true, but the fact that he tells us that it actually happened says a lot about his character. The religious upbringing eventually leads him to meet Raina, a girl he meets at a religion camp and eventually goes out with. Without giving too much of the story's details away, he visits her at home after the camp and sees her lifestyle, which is just as complicated as his, if not more. The story goes on and he grows up and moves on with his life. While growing up however, he seems to carry around this guilt, probably brought on by the oppressing views that religion can carry, not to mention his stubborn attitude. We see later on in the story that his brother grew up and started a family, and must have gotten over whatever guilt he himself held, unless he didn't hold any at all.

The story overall is an amazing piece of art that stirs up emotions and makes you almost feel what the he feels. The way the story ends is somewhat of a mixed emotion itself. It is definitely not a stereotypical happy ending and in fact made me hate the main character for a while. To me, if a story can get that much emotion out of me, then it is definitely a great story.