Blankets is a huge, whopping piece of literature. At 582 pages long it’s not mucking about, but honestly though, I think you could plough through this book in about three hours.

Which is exactly what I did the first time I read Craig Thomson’s astounding graphic novel. A blisteringly honest piece of autobiographical work that I fell in love with from the first moment I opened it.

As with all graphic novels there are two main elements that contribute to the experience of reading it. The writing and the illustration. In the case of Blankets, and obviously many other works of art, there’s a third aspect. That is purely and simply the way it makes you feel. Blankets may be my favourite graphic novel ever because it’s gorgeous in each and every one of these elements. So, lets break this down.

The story is set during the formative years of Craig’s life, charting his coming of age from spending freezing (or roasting) nights sharing a bed with his younger brother to roughly the end of his time at school. Craig lives in a strict religious family, and is taught by winter Christian camps and Sunday Schools to concentrate on devoting his life to God and sacrifice his earthly desires.. He is therefore encouraged to go into the ministry and discouraged from his love of drawing.

Some of the most touching moments are the times set among the blankets and the shared room with his brother, particularly their adventures and games that transform the room and bed into a ship lost at sea and the way they depend on one another. These scenes are also the ones most touched with humour, which brings balance to the seriousness of the teenage Craig.

Through a fractured timeline we also witness his first love, his exploration into his own sexuality – that contrasts fiercely with his religious feelings – and finally the doubts that emerge about his faith. It’s a fascinating journey.

On to the Illustration. I talked briefly before about the black and white illustrations in The Walking Dead comics, which give an essence of starkness but at the same time softens the blow of some of the more gratuitous guts and intestiney bits. Blankets is also drawn purely in black and white but the feeling is quite different. Throughout the book the illustrations have an incredible complexity and warmth to them that I could not have imagined before seeing them.

Slipping easily from day to day normality, to a kind of ethereal otherworldliness in the space of a panel or two, it really is sublime. Set mostly in a snow blanketed Minnesota it has an incredible depth that you feel you can just step inside. Transitioning from simple lines and very cartoonish people to incredibly detailed patterns and light, you’ll get lost in the look of it, which is why your second reading will take significantly longer. surgery unit

And so to the final aspect of my love of this wonderful book, which is how it makes me feel. The young life of Craig bears no resemblance to my youth, none whatsoever. The stark, snowbound vistas of Minnesota are in no way reminiscent of my younger years. And yet Blankets reminded me perfectly what is was to fall in love for the first time, perfectly what is was to feel young and confused or ecstatic within moments of each other, what is was like to grow up and change… Soppy as that may sound (we’re all secretly soppy when we’re teenagers) I felt exactly that way again when I read it.

Moving swiftly from delicate and surprisingly simple line art to powerful and detailed visuals, this wonderful coming of age drama is powerful in its storytelling and its imagery. It’s a must read for comic book lovers and first time graphic novel readers alike. I cannot recommend it highly enough. 5/5