Two recommended graphic novels: ‘Breakdowns’ and ‘The Alcoholic’
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Books editor David L. Ulin talks to Art Spiegelman about ‘Breakdowns,’ originally published in 1978, now reissued with significant new work. ‘At his most complex,’ Ulin writes, Spiegelman is ‘creating comics that, even as they tell a story, comment on the process, highlighting its contradictions, suggesting that we are complicit in the tales we tell.’ Spiegelman tells Ulin:
Comics aren’t made to be read, they’re made to be reread. If you only read them once, they weren’t worth bothering with.
Our brother blog Hero Complex recommends reading (and rereading) ‘The Alcoholic’ by Jonathan Ames and Dean Haspiel.
The book is brilliantly executed with a boldly scabby story that is both demoralizing and relevatory and, amazingly, deeply funny.... Too many times today, the graphic novels that read as meta-memoirs have visually stagnant pages that spell out ‘big thoughts’ with talking heads that visually deaden and drain the storytelling. Ames and Haspiel sidestep this by truly collaborating in the way that fits the medium they have chosen.
This is Ames’ first graphic novel — he’s written nonfiction, novels and has a TV series on the way. Haspiel recieved much acclaim for his illustration of Harvey Pekar’s ‘The Quitter.’ A sample of their work together — the opening pages of ‘The Alcoholic’ — can be found on MTV.com.
— Carolyn Kellogg
