Name: Jenny Walsh's review of Blankets by Craig Thompson
Item: Blankets
Rating: 5
Author: Jenny Walsh

Craig Thompson

"Quaint, meditative and sometimes dreamy, blankets will take you straight back to your first kiss." --The Guardian Blankets is the story of a young man coming of age and finding the confidence to express his creative voice. Craig Thompson's poignant graphic memoir plays out against the backdrop of a Midwestern winterscape: finely-hewn linework draws together a portrait of small town life, a rigorously fundamentalist Christian childhood, and a lonely, emotionally mixed-up adolescence. Under an engulfing blanket of snow, Craig and Raina fall in love at winter church camp, revealing to one another their struggles with faith and their dreams of escape. Over time though, their personal demons resurface and their relationship falls apart. It's a universal story, and Thompson's vibrant brushstrokes and unique page designs make the familiar heartbreaking all over again. This groundbreaking graphic novel, winner of two Eisner and three Harvey Awards, is an eloquent portrait of adolescent yearning; first love (and first heartache); faith in crisis; and the process of moving beyond all of that. Beautifully rendered in pen and ink, Thompson has created a love story that lasts.

Blankets

Loosely based on the author's life, chronicles Craig's journey from childhood to adulthood, exploring the people, experiences, and beliefs that he encountered along the way.

An Illustrated Novel

james cao

And that’s my comfort — that someone else was there and experienced the same thing. How else could I know it was REAL, and not merely a dream?

For what matters if I gain the whole world, but lose my soul?

Jenny Walsh

couldn’t put this down! had to stop in awe at how beautiful so many panels and pages of this book are

Bria

This is beautiful but there was a lot of talk about faith that I wasn’t prepared for. I’m not knocking it just a little confused.

Colton Ray

Sarah Sammis

A Graphic Novel

chloe rae

This graphic novel completely took my breath away. It was heartbreaking, thoughtful, eye-opening and so incredibly marvelous.
While I knew that this novel dealt with religion, I didn't realize just how much it dealt with the topic. I think it was my favorite part of the story actually. While this book is about love, and Craig's first love, it's also about self-discovery and I found his individual journey to be very powerful. I loved watching as he tried to figure out what it is he actually believes in and what he wants to do with his life. It was fascinating. And the fact that Craig is a real person, and he wrote this about his life and experiences, made it even more engaging.
My favorite part as a whole, however, was the art. Oh my GOD THE ART IS EXTRAORDINARY. Every other page I'd stop and just stare at it in awe. The drawing is so beautiful and captivating and added so much to the story.
Overall, while I haven't read a lot of graphic novels, this is by the most beautiful and fantastic one I've ever read. It was just SO GOOD. So incredibly good. I'll be telling everyone about it.

First UK publication for this modern classic 'Moving, tender, beautifully drawn, painfully honest and probably the most important graphic novel since Jimmy Corrigan.' NEIL GAIMAN 'Blankets is a classic in every genre it touches.' STEPHEN CHBOSKY, author of The Perks of Being a Wallflower 'One of the greatest love stories ever written and surely the best ever drawn.' JOSS WHEDON Wrapped in the snowfall of a blustery Midwestern winter, Blankets is the tale of two brothers growing up in rural isolation, and of the budding romance between two young lovers. A tale of security and discovery, of playfulness and tragedy, of a fall from grace and the origins of faith, Blankets is a profound and utterly beautiful work.

Jun Angelo Cabuguas

phenomenal art, and a really personal story that was frustratingly relatable at points

Jaden Nelson

I haven’t read really any graphic novels so I don’t have much to compare it to, but I really enjoyed this. It is a great story of growing up and left me almost emotionally drained after I read this chunker in one sitting. I recommend it, but remember that it is an adult book;)

Dimitris Papastergiou

So... here we are. 

What can I say? I don't want to say bad things because I fell in love with the damn artwork. It was just so nice. So easy to look and so exactly what this specific genre and theme needed.

The reason I read this: Because of the Eisner Award.
And now to the story:
It wasn't great. It wasn't even good. It wasn't interesting. It was ok.

I went into this expecting Craig's kinda take on his life and whatnot.. a biography of short and of course judging from the cover and what I've heard over the years since this was released (and the main reason I never read it) I went into it expecting to read a romance-lovey-dovey/slice of life, daily life kinda story.

But for the life of me, I did NOT expect for it to be SO damn boring. Maybe it's me. Maybe I want something interesting to happen when I'm reading, maybe reading about someone's life is super boring when all you read about is Ah I'm a kid playing with my brothers, I'm going to school, oh look it's snowing, I'm going to college, I'm in love with a girl but it's a long distant relationship, I'm reminiscing younger days etc. etc.

This is what's happening inside.

This is not for me. I'm sorry. Artwork was awesome! Some panels were fun to read, especially the ones about Craig and his little brother. Good stuff. 

The whole love story was mediocre at best. Nothing interesting happening. And well, just something that you can see what's going to happen from the beginning and the journey was boring as hell.

Other than the brother stuff and the "love" stuff nothing else is happening in it besides mentioning religion and God and Jesus a BAZILLION times. UGH. Yeah... like... SO many times.

So, if I was to sum up the whole thing with hashtags this is what you're going to read in this one:
#Jesus #God #teens #brothers #romance

I'm happy I read it. Was expecting it to be something much more interesting?! Cuz of the award? I dunno. What I do know is that I wouldn't pick it up if it wasn't for the Eisner. But yeah. Oh well \o/

Andrew Louis

(Five stars for personal reasons; maybe more like four objectively?)

Katelyn Woodard

"How satisfying it is to leave a mark on a blank surface. To make a map of my movement...no matter how temporary."

Leonor

The art on this graphic novel is absolutely fantastic. There were some beautifully written passages and overall it was a solid and relatable read.

brianna

round this up to 4.5 stars. this bitch had me SHOOK. it was so addicting

Aditi

This is a wonderful autobiography. It's always rare that any author can convey their feelings about their life along with the truth about their life accurately but also in a way that it connects with a reader from a different background without the scaffolding of the known tropes of a novel. 

Thompson explores his inner self completely and his vulnerability in both word and art disarmed me.

This is also a book that may help non religious people understand how religion is enforced and reinforced in communities, especially for children.

Gisela Ayala 

Really good graphic novel. I couldn’t put it down. 
I could relate to all the Bible camp situations the protagonist went through and all the conflicting emotions that brings about.

Nelson Zagalo

Powerfully tender. This is pure literature art disguised as a graphic novel. I'll not say it's the best, but it stands on par with the best graphic novel I've ever read, "Maus" (1991) by Art Spiegelman. That's why I couldn't feel more content when I've learned that Spiegelman lauded "Blankets".

The story is brilliantly told, using text and illustration together as one, creating a fully personal and unique artwork. Drawings are beautifully expressive, almost able to communicate the visceral feelings of the writer, each moment. The overall creates an unforgettable aesthetic experience.

More in portuguese: http://virtual-illusion.blogspot.pt/2...

Kholoud Ayman

"Sometimes, upon waking, the residual dream can be more appealing than reality and is reluctant to give it up. For a while, you feel like a ghost .. Not fully materialized and unable to manipulate your surroundings. Or else, it is the dream that haunts you. You wait with the promise of the next dream"

Natasha Musa

I really liked Blankets. If you want to reminisce experiencing your first love then you should get a hold of this book. But Blankets is not just about falling in love, its about Craig Thompson's experience growing up, trying to understand love and religion and trying to survive the challenges of adolescense. I dare anyone to read it and not relate to at least one of Craig Thompson's experience while growing up.

Aditi Verma

Wouter ter Keurs

Absoluut ongeëvenaarde coming-of-age. Ongelofelijk herkenbaar en voelbaar dichtbij getekend en geschreven. Visuele poëzie. Tissues geboden.

georgia greenway

read this massive book in a day (started at 4:00pm, finished at 6:30 after i took a break for dinner.) 

i don’t even have words. parts broke my heart simply because i related so much, especially with craig’s struggle with religion and raina’s refusal to get attached to people. 
and the illustrations!!!! i can’t even express my adoration for the style this is drawn in. 

in conclusion, jesus fucking christ this book killed me.

Ingrid 

The story was not something I could relate to, and I wasn't a fan of the ending. I really enjoyed the art work of this book. The story gets a 2 star for me. It's not a bad story in any way, just not for me. I ended up giving it a 3 star, because I was a big fan of the art work.

Mahogany Skillings

Expressive and beautiful. An exploration of faith and love.

Kali Olson

Young Craig and his kid brother share a bed in their attic bedroom. Sometimes their battle over who gets the biggest share of bed and blankets brings the wrath of their strict father down upon them. Fear of punishment is usually enough to end the sibling rivalry (though it’s always ignited again later; boys being boys and brothers being brothers), and the siblings are often united by their mutual love of drawing and the attacks by bullies that plague them both at school. Still, this is no charmed family portrait. Craig’s parents are conservative Christians who believe that their son’s penchant for art will lead him down the road to hell. The boys are brought up to fear God and to feel guilt over even the smallest and most common of boyish sins. Craig is the designated high school outcast and (lucky boy) he gets to maintain that role at summer church camp too—until he meets Raina, beautiful, spiritual, kind, and complicated. The two strike up a relationship, a romance for the ages that has clearly haunted the artist Craig Thompson well into his adult life. Thompson relives his first love in poignant and painful detail accompanied by crisp, clear black-and-white drawings that are wonderfully expressive and dramatic, but never overly sentimental. The clash between what you’re brought up to believe and what you come to believe on your own, through your own experiences, is dealt with sensitively, realistically, and with the kind of emotion that every reader can relate to.

☽ jess ☾

Actual Rating: 4.5 stars 

I really enjoyed this,  I know I say this every time with a graphic novel but  I love the art style so much and I 🤷🏻‍♀️ 

I really don’t know how to put how I feel about this into words.

Jenny Walsh &
Blankets by Craig Thompson

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