Wilson

Wilson, by Daniel Clowes

I found this from the sewing blog (with anti-establishment leanings) Angry Chicken and immediately reserved it from my local library. I like graphic novels, even if I'm a little late to the party. I enjoy seeing how authors use the artwork and medium to say something new. Also, the sarcastic humor appeals to a Calvinist like me, and I thought this one was pretty funny.

Wilson is a clueless, lonely, middle-aged man who is so aware of his own suffering he can't realize that his own self-focus has directly caused so much pain. Dark things happen, but his reactions are funny because of the total lack of self-awareness.  I enjoyed the drawings, too, as the style varied on each page but the mood stayed the same. Each page is set up as a stand-alone episode, kind of like reading a collection of comics, except with heartbreak and a few felonies. The language and situations are most definitely R-rated, by the way, so don't read this, Mom and Carol.

Wilson: won't pick it up it again, didn't like him, and a depressing read. All in all, an excellent graphic novel.