The rating could be a bit high - I'm fresh from reading it straight through in a night and a morning - but it's given because of the exhilarating feel I got while reading it. 'THIS is what I've been talking about: a comic which marries words and images and thus transcends a story with illustrations or a comic with a voiceover.'

It's not merely the fact that Thompson did art and words, though that goes some way towards explaining the harmony between the two. It's the soul, the honesty, and the portrait of growing up in a world that estranges you and feels strange. Part of the latter resonated with me, though I never had it as hard as Thompson, but it was his falling in love with Reina which really got me. There is a strain of unrestrained romanticism in me that wishes to see itself reflected elsewhere. The joy, the love and the beauty of the telling meant that I found it here.

Blankets isn't without flaws, but as when the girl of Craig's adulation finds a spot, the imperfection adds to the humanity for me. This is a graphic novel about feelings and how the world seems to one person growing up, not about the realities of the world itself, though there are doses of that too. The jocks are scumbags to a man, but all of that sets the background to the two-person world which Craig and Reina briefly create and inhabit. Like life, pure happiness can't last here - I hope that won't be true of my reaction to Blankets. ( )

The protagonist (and author) Craig shares his intimately what it was like growing up and falling in love for the first time. Initially, I found the novel to be a bit dull. Had it not been a quick read in the beginning I could easily had set it aside. But because I could just breeze through the pages, I maintained, and damn if I'm not thrilled that I did. Blankets is eerily one of those novels that transports you back into your own history. It doesn't matter that your first love story might have begun differently, the innocence, the desperation, the belief and desire of something lasting forever is all there. Then, as childlike fantasies come roaring back, the doubt and immediate pressure of such overwhelming emotions settles in. I could understand from both Craig's point of view and Raina's. Oh and while all of that breathless love is going on, Thompson throws in a blanket of defining spirituality, losing faith, divorce, alienation, peer pressure, and everything else that makes a superb coming of age story. Blankets is definitely one of my favorite reads this year. I'm disappointed that I have to return it to the library soon. It makes me feel connected and reminiscent to my past just seeing it on the bookshelf.

http://annotatedreading.blogspot.com/... ( )

I must admit that Thompson's obsession with religious texts and sin is quite alien to me - the extent of my family's moral teachings were something along the lines of "think before you do" so Thompson's guilt-trips didn't have much to offer me personally. That said, I did come away with quite a marvelous picture of first love - a flashback to the time when love would take over your entire being and permeate every single thought and emotion in your body. Not that I miss that kind of (slightly insane) devotion, but us was nice to visit Craig and Raina and take part in their magical moments.

Blankets is a memoir, but it reads like a confessional, if not indeed an exorcism - Thompson's apologies for the times in his life when he was not enough to protect his loved ones: his brother, Raina, or himself. Because the narrative is so truthful, the ending is not a shimmering paradise (which would make for a trite story), but it does give room for optimism and hope for the future.

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Richie's Picks: BLANKETS: AN ILLUSTRATED NOVEL by Craig Thompson, Top Shelf, July 2003, ISBN 1-891830-43-0

"Sometimes I lie away awake at night and wonder
Where my life will lead me
Waiting to pass under Sleep's dark and silent gate."
--Jackson Browne

I continue to find the vast majority of graphic novels I read to be without heart. Or perhaps I should say that after reading BLANKETS I understand that the reason I have been a reader unmoved by graphic novels is that they have consistently failed to touch me in the manner that Craig Thompson's 600-page illustrated novel has--page after page after page.

"Sheep: A blanket begins in a faraway place
Where skies are blue and there's lots of space
The nights are cold and we sleep outside
To keep warm and toasty we grow hair on our hide
But when spring comes round the weather is warm
A thick woolly coat loses all of its charm
We're itchy and hot 'till the rancher arrives
To give us each a haircut and brighten up our lives
He grabs a big bag and he gathers the wool
And he stuffs and he crams 'till the bags are full
He throws 'em on the truck 'till it's piled up high
Then he climbs into the driver's seat and says 'Goodbye'

That's the story of Bert's blanket
That's the story of Bert's blanket
That's the story of Bert's blanket" --Sesame Street

Perhaps the size of BLANKETS is one of its big pluses. I wouldn't call the typical comic book a novel; nor do I believe that a comic book becomes worthy of the term "novel" simply because it contains mature themes, explicit images and a hardcover binding. While my wife, the English teacher, would describe what I'm saying in terms of significant character development, plot, theme, and all that literature jargon, I would simply say that a successful "real" novel gives me something to really bite into and leaves me with plenty to think about after I'm done turning the pages. With its captivating blend of text and illustrations, BLANKETS is a novel does that to perfection.

BLANKETS is the semiautobiographical tale of a boy growing up. The story--which covers (blankets?) nearly two decades--includes Craig's brother, parents, school, art, sexuality, religion and religious leaders, Church Camp, First Love, and that Love's extended family. It also contains several blankets (as in the kind you sleep beneath) as well as blankets of snow and some metaphorical blankets.

The action in the story is nicely counterbalanced with the main character's introspection about his self-evolution, interactions, relationships, and religious beliefs.

"Linus: Where's my blanket?"

But, most significantly, what Craig Thompson does to perfection in BLANKETS is to utilize this illustrated format in order to be able to reveal far more with his combination of words and images than he could possibly have done with words alone. Whether it is the drawings telling part of the story as when, for example, we view the series of illustrations in which Craig's hand nervously, anxiously, plays with the curled telephone cord as he tries to "reconnect" with Raina, or whether it is the capability to often have Craig simultaneously saying one thing while thinking another, or the opportunity for the author to transition to extensive dialogue without having to constantly resort to "He said." or "She said," or even the potential of showing Craig's and his brother's drawings rather than having to describe them, I can now really see and understand the potential of writing a novel in this format. I could easily go on and on about other highlights: the power of being able to see those looks passing between Craig and Raina, the joy of being able to watch the bedtime hijinx between the young Craig and his brother, or being able to read an entire story on the face of Raina's father when his discovery leads to contemplation of what has happened in his own life.

BLANKETS is a book that leaves me with warm, cozy memories; one you absolutely need to see (and crawl inside of) yourself.

Richie Partington
http://richiespicks.com
BudNotBuddy@aol.com ( )

Summary:
The story of Blankets is a narration of Craig Thompson's early years which include events that happened in his childhood, adolescent years, and a look into his adult life. In this book Craig deals with many issues such as his religious beliefs, coming of age, and first love.