Matthew Fox (5)

Through a Southern Gothic/Folk Horror lens, Smith and Fox examine themes of bereavement, suicide (TW for that, method and discovery depicted), depression and abandonment, and that there is hope and life beyond loss.

The story gets a bit hallucinogenic towards the end, which seems to have thrown a lot of reviewers and downgraded the average rating. I thought it was a solid 4⭐

Smith says that he completed the book during an ongoing period of bereavement, and I think he handles it all sensitively.

A highly personal story for the author gets lost in the weeds as a tale of grief and loss becomes a supernatural clusterfuck with bullshit dream sequences. Bah.

I liked this, but it was just a little confused. There is a lot going on, the magical realist hallucinations of one brother, the hillbilly-Valkyrie, abusive father, dead child, ruined romance, and small town isolation all come together in a dreamy and confusing mix.

A beautiful, melancholy book. I was impressed by how expressive the colors are with such a limited pallete. I could easily see this made into a Jeff Nichols movie, it definitely has a feel like Mud. It is easy to see why this book earned an Eisner nomination.