"Blankets" dramatically fails in fulfilling the fundamentals of a good story. One of them is how surprising - the story. Blankets has very common story about two lovers, some flashbacks from childhood, one weak motive(the blanket), common characters with common problems, and after reading it all, you're going to ask yourself- "So...? What's the big fuss? It's everyday life, everyday problems of all of us, and not the interesting ones - just the commons. The hero has boring life, a true old fashion naive roman, and above all questions of faith in the lord and the way of Christianity life.
The other big flaw in the story is that it touched so many nice and complex moments and situations with such a potential, in the author life, but none to deal with, and so you missed all the could- have-been good parts. So is for the relationship with the parents, which can stand for its own book, but Thompson, chooses not to develop this point. I'll explain later why.
The big love to his girl was so naive and most of the time boring, full of silent pictures describing the goodness and pureness of her. Yeah yeah, we got it. You were both 17 or so, but the world looks like that to everyone. What make yours special? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
The book starts good, with the motive of the blanket, the relationship with the parents and his brother - but than it falls into the outcast-guy-with-the-popular-girl-which-fell from-the-sky clichés. And what a clichés! I mean standing alone, or hiding under the table, in some college party is so banal idea! So for a lot of other situations.("I need some space"??? Come'on!!!)
Eventually - this book is about someone youth. An ordinary youth, like you saw in 6000 movies or so.
The illustrations are pretty good but nothing special that takes the story higher. The story is the main job of this book. The illustrations are just here to support it and no more.
And all the religious stuff? Well, in this point the author choose to show only his inner conflicts, which are very boring and childish, but he choose in his life (and in this book) not to confront them over the surface with his community, parents and friends. All you can see is the surrounding people telling him what is the best Christian way to do so and so, and the author stands aside with dumb face like "they don't understand me, they are not convincing me, why why why..." and so on.
If the guy could grew some balls than the story would be much more interesting, and that's the reason that they aren't interesting conflicts in this book. There were just none in his true life. He is like a weak leaf going where the wind blows. Just hearing everybody and stand steal without saying nothing. A good example is to see how he decide TWICE to literally burn his past instead of dealing with it in an adult way. Nah...lets act like 4 yeas old...
A word to the author: Do you really think you deserve to be main character? No, you are not. You are the less interesting character in the story. You are so self-concentrated and so enthusiastic to show the world your silent, quiet, boring life, but believe me - you can open a blog instead.
So why read this book? What happens in this book? Well, nothing. Save your money. Read "Epileptic" instead, and see that are some stories that have to be told, and some not.


*pardon for the english mistakes if any. not my main lang.

"Blankets" is a literary achievement, and probably one of the top five graphic novels of all time. It's a story so fulfilling and so immensely--almost staggeringly--beautiful that it, like first love itself, almost aches to experience it. But, again like first love itself, is something that I'd recommend to any and everyone.

As a man very much like Craig--a Christian who doesn't find everything the church teaches to his liking as well as a person who had a bittersweet first love--I found this book to be so full of poignant truth that I was brought to tears many times over. The way Craig Thompson describes the first contact with his love, Raina; the way he describes the state of waking from a particularly profound dream ("For a while, you feel like a ghost-- Not fully materialized, and unable to effect your surroundings); and, not least of all, how he finds such beauty in things others might see as mundane. When I bought this attractive book, I knew I was going to be experiencing some beautiful art, but Thompson is more than an artist who also writes. He is so talented at both of his crafts that, while reading this, I often felt that these pages may not have been created, but simply generated by Thompson's brain.

The way the art is handled is nothing short of masterful. Craig Thompson is a master of comic art, and knows how to evoke just the right kind of emotions. Whether it be the framing of a panel, the use of white space, the way some things are so detailed but others look so mundane, the way some things look so realistic while others look like caricatures, how some panels are inked and shaded while some are just bare-boned (not shaded)... Whatever Thompson does from panel-to-panel--and trust me, I've read a lot of comics, some of his techniques are breathtakingly innovative--evokes just as much emotion as his writing itself does. The writing blends so nicely with the art, creating such a tight, purposeful feeling behind every page.

I read "Blankets" in about half the time I thought it would take to finish it. It's focused, poignant, and so very beautiful. For my four hundredth review, I am more than proud to give this classic graphic novel five well-deserved stars.

10/10 Classic.

Craig Thompson produces a powerful coming of age story in Blankets, and a lengthy one too: it weighs in at almost 600 pages. Growing up in a fundamentalist Christian household in rural Wisconsin, the semi-autobiographical character named Craig must share a bed with his little brother. He grows up in a cultural environment that I know all too well. There are signs on the road that proclaim `Jesus is the only fire insurance,' and the boys are forced to attend a church in which even questioning things in good faith is strongly discouraged and dismissed.

At a winter church camp, Craig just doesn't see how so many people can actually all be on the same page in regards to their worshipping of Jesus, much less be able to jointly carry out any kind of cohesive policy in the world. But at this camp he meets a somewhat kindred spirit named Raina, and most of the remainder of the novel follows their relationship.

Thompson exploits the graphic form quite well. The snowy landscapes provide a sense of otherworldliness, and all adult authority figures are presented as giants, towering over the young boys and filing them with fear and intimidation. Though he is questioning his faith to some degree, Craig is fairly devout and Thompson presents a war between his desires and the Bible graphically. As he is told about Hell for the first time, the young Craig's imagination shows people in agony in a style that is much more traditionally gothic than the typical style of the primary narrative. And upon learning that the book of Ecclesiastes had been revised and added to many years after it original composition, the artist presents the more hopeful additions with cartoonish pigs, contrasting the presentation of the darker statements, which reflect a surrealist type of horror.

Though the love story between Raina and Craig worked quite well and was very believable to me, I was more affected by Craig's stifling religious environment because it reminded me of my own as a boy. When questioning his pastor about the changes made to Ecclesiastes, the minister dismisses him by saying that even if some additions were made as the translations took place across the centuries, one shouldn't let that fact dissuade them from God's holy word.

In the last chapter of the book, Craig as a young adult returns home and has a conversation about leaving Christianity behind with his brother. He adds that he doesn't feel he can ever tell their parents because they would think of nothing else but saving his immortal soul. And this is precisely how I feel as well. After years of hearing that the answer to my questions was God, but then being forbidden from asking questions in God's church has left me feeling like Craig: apart from my family, yet overwhelmingly confident that I am on the right side.

As one would expect, there is a blanket motif throughout Blankets, and towards the end of the novel Craig notes as he walks through snow how `satisfying it is to leave a mark on a blank surface.' Thomson would be happy to know that no only were his marks satisfying to make, but they were very satisfying to read as well.

When you first get this book you're a little intimidated. It comes in at over 500 pages and looks huge, but by the end, you wish there were another 500. It's that damn good.

Adolescence is something we can all relate to on a human level. We all go through it and have our horror stories to tell. Love, Lust, Questions and so much more are dealt with in this "graphic" novel and it is done so perfectly I am truly surprised anyone was able to give this anything lower than 4 stars.

Buy this book. Even if you don't read graphic novels, buy this book. It's that good.

I'd never read a graphic novel before so I was pleasantly surprised at how well the story was conveyed through pictures. Sometimes I thought there were too many words even. I could really identify with the "story" even though many critiqued that there was no story. It's a 580 page book--theres story! Whether you enjoyed the story is a whole different... story. Wow, this is not going at all as planned. Anyway. I think it's definitely worth the few hours it takes to read. I read it once straight through and then read it again just looking at the pictures. I would own this book and read it from time to time, gladly. Oh and as far as the banning it from the school libraries. I agree with that, sort of, but from public libraries--no! I wouldn't recommend this to teenagers, but I wouldn't ground them for reading it if they were my teenagers, or anything...

I guess I'm one of the few who just "didn't get" this one. I found it to be really boring. I work at a library and would read this on my breaks, but it felt more like a chore and less like a pleasure to get to the end of this book.
The drawings are nice and everything but I never liked the main character. I understand that its semi autobiographical, but maybe the author should have embellished the story a little more before committing it to paper.
The basic story follows a boy growing up in an overly religious family/town as he enters his teen years an awkward scrawny, artistic outcast feeling out of touch with most people looking only to Jesus for guidance (and friendship?) the main character doesn't have any friends that I can remember other than Jesus.
Anyway, he meets a girl at bible camp and after months of keeping up a pen-pal type relationship with her, convinces his parents to let him spend his winter break with her and her family. (The girls "chaotic" family was really the only interesting part of the book.) He spends 2 weeks with her, then goes home, just to dump her over the phone and burn (almost)everything she ever gave him, including the letters she wrote him during the pen-pal thing.

I'm sure a few people aren't going to like this review but thats basically what I got form the story. It was very boring to me. I wanted to like it, I just didn't.

It's been a few years since I first read "Blankets", but I still remember it being an incredibly powerful and fun read. "Blankets" is the book that got me into graphic novels and finally got me reading fiction again. It's that good. Craig is the rejected kid in all of us. He beautifully depicts going to Bible Camp, anxious to finally make some friends because surely Christian kids will take him in. When they reject him, he goes further into himself stating "I can take kids at school making fun of me, but kids at Bible camp...that was a bit much." Amen to that.
Craig Thompson does a superb job taking you back into the mind of a child and an adolescent. Read it at night, in your bedroom alone, with The Smiths playing, or The Pixies, Tori Amos or whatever you listened to in High School. Why not hang some Christmas lights for teenage mood lighting? Either way, prepare to be transported.

I found this book a few years ago right as I was graduating high school. It resonated with me then and it still does today. I have my own copy now and every few months I take it out and read it again. Whether you've already had that first love that changes your life forever, as Craig did, or you're still waiting to experience that kind of love you will thoroughly enjoy this book. The story is just great and Craig's illustrations complement the text perfectly. I wasn't a fan of graphic novels until I read this book, now I have a new appreciation for them.

An incredibly honest story about a kid and later a teenager facing his life through christian eyes. Once you've started to read it, it's like an invitation to come into a world where the most primary, clean and real sensations are felt, page after page. Is not usual that someone cries after reading a book, but probably you wont be able to hold your tears after finishing Blankets...
A graphic novel to recomend, no doubt!

Like a magic carpet, Blankets carries the reader back to that achingly beautiful (and sometimes just plain aching) time of teenage searching, awkwardness, and first love. Craig and Raina are both dealing with their own complicated issues when they meet at church camp over winter vacation. The free-spirited Raina struggles with her parents' impending divorce; Craig is haunted by childhood bullying and sexual abuse, and his sensitive, creative personality makes him an outsider at his small, rural school. Throughout the story, he also wrestles with his fundamentalist Christian upbringing and the guilt it has instilled in him. Though he finds comfort and meaning in the spiritual side of his faith, he becomes increasingly alienated from its other aspects. In the midst of these private battles, Craig and Raina find solace in a relationship filled with all the magic, passion, and fragility young love entails.

Blankets resembles other memoirs such as Maus and Persepolis in that its graphic novel format and evocative art add a rich emotional texture to the story. The story takes place in a snow-covered Midwest, and the wintry scenes evoke the stark outside world of bullies and overbearing, quarreling adults from which Craig and Raina find a warm refuge in each other.

This is one of those novels that stays with you long after you put it down. It beautifully captures the essence of what it is to be a teenager, and one feels that Thompson truly put his heart on the page in creating it.

Thompson successfully portrays the altogether common thoughts and experiences of adolescence and young adulthood through what is, as of yet, a less common and still-evolving medium: the graphic novel. The story itself, although very well crafted and quite enjoyable, is nothing spectacular. As a typical Bildungsroman, it fits very nicely into the Young Adult genre, with its chronicle of young love that is honest enough to appeal strongly to older teenagers, but probably carries a twinge of cliché for most older readers. The perspectives on religion, too, although honest and often poignant, are generally quite typical of those felt by most American youth raised in enthusiastically religious environments. The artist's depictions on the Evangelical Church--the caricatured criticisms church camp and the right-wing narrow-mindedness of Church leaders--comprise a tongue-in-cheek humor that the narrator uses to artfully scrutinize Christianity as he has been exposed to it.

On the whole, Blankets is certainly worth the effort: despite being 582 pages long, reads remarkably quickly and never becomes tedious. However, despite being beautifully drawn and having several other outstanding qualities, it is generally best geared toward teen audiences and lacks the universal brilliance and innovation of forerunners in the world of graphic novel memoirs (i.e. Art Speigelman's Maus series).

Every now and then, something major happens in your life. Sometimes it's an event, sometimes it's a work of art. In the case of a work of art, "Blankets" had the effect on me that few things have. I can only compare its impact with that of other works of art, in different arts, like "American Beauty", "Six Feet Under", The Eels, Tori Amos, Nirvana, JD Salinger, and many other artists whose work have both inspired and reassured me that I wasn't alone in the way I saw the world and lived my life.

"Blankets" is definitely a landmark in the history of comics/cartoons and visual arts. It is because it does things that neither cinema nor literature can do, and I believe that in between cinema and literature is precisely where comics/cartoons fall. Books like "Blankets" give the genre its "letters of nobility" as they say in French, and it reveals the incredible power that the art can convey.

I have rarely been so touched by any kind of art before in my life, even musically, and I cannot tell you enough about this wonderful book. It is not easy to read, it will scar your soul, but on the whole, it will taste and feel like life, and you'll know you're not alone.

Craig Thompson is a genius and I'm still thinking about the amazing narrative skills he showed in "Blankets"; terrific transitions, superb parallels, unbelievable imagery and coherence of thoughts.

If you like snow as much as I do, you will love it. If you don't, you will learn to. It's so beautiful, I won't even try to review that. You have to experience this book.

But be sure that this is not easy to read, and I mean that emotionally. It's indeed filled with real emotions, from more than just the main character, so much so that you will feel quite a lot throughout the book.

I won't even say anything about the plot or anything, just that you have to trust me and read this book. You won't regret it, and you will be touched.

Just an excellent comic all around. Good art, good story, good for all ages 15 and up.

Craig uses a very simple style to tell a very deep story, a story about teenage love, loss, and growing up. I think the simple style helps in some ways, because it allows us to inject our own dreams and memories into the comic. In some ways it reminds me of Maus, which used a very simple style to tell a deeper story. I actually prefer it to Maus, but I think the nature of the story is quite different.

The only qualm I had about this book was that it was over way too quickly, being a 500 page book, it can be read in about two hours. If you liked Jimmy Corrigan, Maus and bittersweet true life stories, check this one out.

I'm a college English instructor, and so I suppose that I should have a natural bias against graphic novels as such. I've only glanced at other examples of the genre, and this is the first time I've actually sat down and attempted to read a graphic novel from start to finish. Wow. "Blankets" is really stunningly beautiful and moving. I thought the opening section, and its pacing, was pitch perfect, and I really never reached a page that didn't seem (to me) to ring poetically true about authoritarian religion, life, first love, and the development of the self. Blankets, as a title, works for the whole novel because it is a story of "embowerment" (as well as empowerment). In other words, beds and blankets function in the text as the places where one burrows in safety and self discovery. While reading, I thought of Jonah in the whale. The book is life affirming, and it makes me want to discover the graphic novel genre further. I'm sold.

This is truly the most personal, beautiful thing I've ever read. You'll want all your friends to read it.

Very nice story, haven't finished reading it all the way yet, but I like how soft the art is.

That Blankets is an "illustrated novel" read mostly by people who never read comics says a lot about why it is so revered. It garnered recognition for its use of serious subject matter in what is generally perceived as a children's medium. Its popularity puts it in the hands of librarians whose conception of comics is fantasy superhero books for kids, so of course they think: how clever to use an unlikely and underappreciated medium like comics to a tell a coming-of-age story.

But Blankets' coming-of-age story is trite and overreaching, not to mention painfully earnest. It strives to speak for a generation of losers and loners by being as bland and overly earnest as possible. The type of reader who loves this is also the type of reader wont to call it "achingly beautiful."

Look, I grew up a wimp in the Midwest, too. But I don't need to read yet another self-indulgent auto-bio comic about it just to validate my existence. EVERYONE has loved and lost, and stories about love can be sharp and powerful. But Craig Thompson offers only cliched sentimentality and manipulative heartstring-tugging, not one original insight on adolescence or lost love.

Why not read some Daniel Clowes, a much sharper observer of adolescent angst (and I'm not just talking about Ghost World)? Or try Peter Bagge, whose Hate comics start off as a goofy case study of nineties suspended adolescence slackers then evolves into a terrifically insightful depiction of truly growing up. Or Lynda Barry's many illuminating examinations of childhood. And then why not wash the earnestness out of your mouth with Johnny Ryan's gloriously nihilistic Angry Youth Comix?

An amazing book, great illustrations. Read it within 2 days because I couldn't put it down! My boyfriend never used to like reading all that much, but I bought this book for him knowing he loves comics/video games/anime, and he loved it...couldn't put it down, Now I've got him reading novels! Definitely recommend owning this.

Even though the book weighs in at a hefty 600 pages, I blew through this amazing graphic novel in two days

It seriously has rocketed to probably my top 3 books I have ever read. Thompson did something with the book that's almost magical.

Maybe it's just because the book really resonated with me. Outside of some of the details, Craig could have been me. I live in the midwest, and while my parents aren't as hard-core Christian as his parents were, there was still always that little bit of pressure to just fall into the faith, and I know plenty of families that are like the one portrayed in the book.

The book really just made me miss everything about my childhood. I miss just having fun with my brother before he branched out and became his own person. I also miss those incredibly powerful feelings of first love, and while I didn't have an experience like he did with Raina, I can absolutely relate with how the character felt.

Thompson did such a great job with everything, especially the characters. I honestly felt that Raina is one of the most beautiful comic book characters I've ever seen. I know that sounds weird, but it's how I feel. Whenever she wasn't on the page, I wanted her to be on the page. It's an absolute feat that Thompson has achieved by putting so much emotion and beauty into characters with such a spare drawing style. How exactly he's able to capture every single subtle emotion with four or five lines, I'll never know.

The art is also beautifully complementary to Thompson's restrained writing style. He has the ability to go from the sharp, angular forms of the world surrounding him into the wispy curves of Raina's world. There are also lots of little details that might not add much to the story, but they are beautiful little surprises. For example, when one character is sliding along the ice of a lake, Thompson has simply written the word "slide" underneath the character's foot in flourished letters. It somehow absolutely captures the scene

OK, so I'm rambling...pardon me

If you haven't read it, go do it. Even though it's 600 pages, you'll be upset when it ends because you want it to be 1200 or 6000 pages, seriously

How much of it is true? Who knows?Who cares? Well, one person, perhaps two... and their parents.. possibly the people they grew up to marry.

Read this and think about the Raina in your life. How lovely it is to be someone's Raina. If you calculate the hours, it's not so very many, but how precious that handful is...

I was very moved by the reverent way the beloved is depicted. The frame where the two soon-to-be young lovers each tuck their long hair behind their ears is unspeakably lovely.

The abruptness of their parting is lovely too... or will seem so to readers who've passed a certaon shelf life into a grey area of bitterseetness, appreciaton and regret.

The drawing board hours alone are testament to the power of young love, the kind that is rarely destined to survive these days.

Lovely beyond compare.

Although described as a graphic novel about first love, it is overwhelming about seperating yourself from religion and the known world around you. The drawings are dark and flow beautifully on the pages but the story creates a barrier between the reader and the book. The religious themes of restraint and power are too prominent and suffocate what could be a whimsical story about being young and finding someone who understands you, who you are connected to.

I am not a big fan of Goodbye, Chunky Ric, but I find Craig Thompson's sophomore effort to be one of such intense beauty and personal joy and despair that I fervently recommend it to anyone, regardless of their feelings about graphic novels. It is a classic work that I sincerely hope will be remembered and reread for years to come.

If Will Eisner had been born in the 1970's and grew up listening to The Pixies, he may have been Craig Thompson. That's jumbo praise, and it's not given lightly. Barely a half a decade into his career, Thompson is already a fully fleshed writer and artist, a genius of the artform of cartooning.

BLANKETS, published by Top Shelf Productions (bless `em) is a mammoth undertaking, a near-600 page graphic novel about first love (and its loss), faith (and its loss), growing up (and away) from both nature and nurture, finding oneself and figuring out one's place in the universe. Sounds heavy, right? Well, it is, but it's also poetic and gentle, more about how subtle nuances can shake and shape foundations.

Thompson's previous book, 1999's GOODBYE, CHUNKY RICE dealt with similar subjects, but on a much smaller scale and in a more allegorical, cartoony style. BLANKETS is a far more realistic (but impressionistic), semi autobiographical tale. As good as CHUNKY RICE is (and it's great), it only hinted at the abilities of this artist. Actually, the 2000 Top Shelf Small Batch book, BIBLE DOODLES (now out of print, but well worth tracking down) had more of the swooping richness that defines BLANKETS.

Where some cartoonists would use (and have used) sexual child abuse as the sole theme of a book, Thompson merely uses it (in only a handful of pages) as one of many defining elements of a complex adolescence. The harrowing experience is not trivialized nor exploited, but given a resonance that colors the protagonists feelings and actions as he grows older. It's rare that comics can color life with its inherent shades of gray rather than the usual stark black and white to which we're used (even in color comics).

BLANKETS has already received much praise, often compared to the works of Chris Ware, which I think does Thompson a disservice. His work is so much more organic and vital, far from the mechanical sterility and precision of Ware's work, which frankly leaves me cold more often than not. While Ware keeps the reader at arm's length, a passive observer removed from the story, Thompson creates a warm, inviting environment. His lush brush strokes, swirling sense of design, masterful characterization and peerless pacing make BLANKETS a completely sensual experience.

I know, I know, I'm heaping superlative upon superlative, but this is not something I often do. The fact is, this is one of the best examples of the comics medium I've ever read. If I were one of those nutty zen masters with only ten books to my name, BLANKETS would be one of them.

This is one of the best graphical novels I have ever read. In fact I find it to be one of the most engaging and accessible pieces of art I have come across in some time.

I became acquainted with this book by somewhat peculiar circumstances. I was at my friends apartment talking about how he (an artist) should consider branching off into sequential art. He wasn't exactly intrigued by the idea. Nevertheless we continued to talk about the medium for a while and as I was praising the medium for one reason or another he walked over to his desk and pulled this book from out of one of the drawers. Obviously it had been important to him judging by the fact he seemed to have it stashed away from his other books, and it would soon become important to me. I borrowed the book and found myself reading it (in its entirety) later that night.

I was absolutely sucked into this book. From the first pages, I began to connect with the narrator. There are undoubtedly various reasons for this. Some of the more obvious ones being that I have many similarities with the author. I live in a Midwestern farming community (albeit one of some distinction). But that was not the connection. The connection came to me much in the same way I believe it will come to you if you read this book. Thompson discusses the power of early relationships in this novel. He is able to describe a relationship between the narrator and a girl in a way that all people who have been in similar circumstances will be able to relate to (there are many examples of this, but I don't want to give away plot details).

Perhaps on a lesser level Thompson discusses various other relationships the narrator has with individuals, his preacher, his brother, etc. And even though some of these relationships (as well as the characters in these relationships) are not entirely fleshed out the reader is still able to feel connected to the story because of the intense development of the narrator. There is a feeling of empathy and connection with the narrator that is extremely hard to find in any medium of art. And perhaps that is the most powerful part of this book on any level. That the author is essentially the narrator, and that he invites us, in such a friendly manner, into his life through the lens of a great book.

Blankets goes down in my heart as one of the most touching and moving graphic novels I had ever read. Nearly 600 pages in length, I sat down and read this wonderful coming of age story in four hours. Thompson created a story rendered with simple but beautiful black and white drawings that I could relate to. This is one of those graphic novels that anyone who's interested in creating or reading heartfelt comics should read.

A touching, gentle tale of a boy becoming a man, I found the romantic interactions of his first real GF very close to the heart of how it really feels. The clean simple illustrations work well within the framework of the story and it is a lengthy book, which made me feel like I got my moneys worth.

When my boyfriend got me this novel from a comic convention, I was intimidated by the size. I didn't want to read it for the longest time. Not wanting to hurt his feelings, I picked it up one day and thought that I would start with one page. The first page was all it took to suck me in to finish it within 3 days. It is utterly beautiful and moving. The illustrations are gorgeous. I decided to send one to my friend in Singapore for her birthday and she read it in a day! Makes a wonderful gift.

except for maybe Maus. or Contract with God. But amazing nonetheless.

Craig Thompson's Blankets is a big, hefty, slab of a graphic novel -- the kind of book that requires you to develop strategies for holding it up when you're reading in bed or draping yourself over the edge of the couch. I found that the book was easiest to read in bed with my knees in the air. That way, its massiveness could be propped up on my knees and the pages fairly easily turned.

Blankets is an elegantly inked autobiographical coming of age story about a boy, Craig, who is dealing with mid-west mullet-sporting hicks, extremely overzealous Christians for parents, an only minimally explained instance of childhood molestation (by an apparent stranger with bad skin), much more direct and violent abuse from the before-mentioned extremely overzealous Christian father, and relief from all of this only in the form of church camp. When church camp spells your relief from it all, you know you're in trouble.

The character Craig's childhood is rendered sweetly charming by the author Craig's portrayal of two brothers sleeping in the same bed together in a poorly insulated attic room and managing to weather the turmoil of the childhood they didn't choose for themselves or each other. They draw, but most of all, they summon creativity: that force kids can bring to life in even the worst of situations.

At church camp one year, much later in his adolescence, Craig meets Raina, the alluringly drawn bad-for-a-Christian girl who Craig falls for and then the book falls for -- about half of the text, right up until a very-nearly tacked on section at the end, is spent describing Craig's slow-boil relationship with Raina. By focusing on a two-week visit to Raina's house in Michigan (Craig lives on a farm in Wisconsin), the book manages to describe and show two teenagers all crazily obsessed with each other, their families, and the bible. This mixture of obsessions keeps Craig and Raina drawn to each other and kept distant because of a complex array of barricades.

[Spoiler Warning!] When the two-week visit to Raina's house is over (look to this section of the book for some fairly scintillating teen-age heterosexual action), the book accelerates toward its closure. Craig and Raina fall apart -- but it's not that tragic; I mean really, who can sustain a long-distance relationship while in high school? Craig moves out of his parents' house at age 20, and in a revelation the entire perspective of the novel tells you is coming but is hard to imagine the particulars of, Craig falls away from the force that has captivated him his entire life: organized Christianity. In the final pages, too, we see Craig and his younger brother reconciling a bit, as the years of deprivation (emotional, mainly, but also environmental and cultural) had kept them from loving each other in the ways close brothers seem to ought to.

The book ends with Craig treading softly through the rural landscape; we know him, in those final pages, to be living in a city far from it all -- far enough to gain the needed author's perspective on the hazards of small town life and provincial thinking this book explores in such detail.

* (note on the star rating): The only reason I deduct a star from the maximum rating is because I grade on a curve, and I tend to think 5 stars should represent the truly elite (like the top 5%). This is not to say "Blankets" is not an exquisite work of rare quality, which I feel it is, but in the genre of stunningly intimate coming-of-age stories, I'd have to rate "The Catcher in the Rye" a cut above, and in the growing pantheon of poignant graphic memoirs I believe "Maus" deserves a slightly higher distinction. But in no way do I hope to deter anyone from reading this hefty (nearly 600 pages) yet easily devourable and emotionally nutritious tome. As an illustrator, Craig Thompson's touch is both lithe and sumptuous--the 2,000-odd panels (!) pass briskly in service of the story, but nearly each is a gem and certainly worth a thousand words. As a confessor, Thompson is demure yet unrepressed--childhood scars are revealed gingerly, like slowly removed bandaids, leaving the pain implicit. Overall, as an artist and storyteller, his voice aches with a kind of sorrow mellowed by hard-fought inner peace. In the vein of other neurotic ex-Christian comic artists, such as R. Crumb, Chester Brown, and Joe Matt (quite a rogues' gallery of comic genius), Thompson's religious renunciation and sexual cartharsis is uncompromisingly recounted, at times hilariously gut-churning, and embarrasingly universal.

Bottom Line: "Blankets" is a dignified, heart-splitting investigation of the travails of youth, siblings, family dysfunction, Christian upbringing, and the timelessness of art and first love, set against a mostly wintry Wisconsin backdrop during the early 90's grunge era. The work's length, lucidity, and brimming artistry alchemize into a near-masterpiece, both as a piece of literature and of graphic beauty.

Blankets is enthralling and demonstrates what the comic medium can do. This is escapist literature grounded in reality. Craig Thompson makes you identify with the protaganist as he journeys from troubled youth and adolescence to adulthood. Highly recommended, even if you don't normally read comics. It's that good.

You will completely lose yourself in this story. This is the type of story you can read at a horrible place like the doctor's office and completely forget where you are! This is a true life story. A story about a first love and growing up in general, but also in a very religious family. This book will make you laugh, make you want to cry, and make you feel completely at peace. I was genuinely upset when this book ended. I read it in 3 days! I almost want to read it again because the photos contain so much emotion and useful background that they are worth a second look. I took a lot away from this story that I will not soon forget. It awakened feelings in me and it will do the same for any and everyone that is human! Do not miss out on this one. Up until this point I was yet to find a graphic novel that I could really get into. I found storylines to be lacking and conclusions abrupt. This one was truly magical. (and its super cheesy that I just wrote that, but it's true)

This is one of two graphic novels that have intensely gripped me and opened up to me a whole new literary world. (The other was Posy Simmond's 'Gemma Bovary'.) I'm often bewildered by comics which either have an interesting story but boring artwork, or tales with lovely artwork but which are nearly impossible to follow or have few references I can understand, or are just too male. This novel transcended all those difficulties.

The storytelling is clear and well-paced, has a lovely balance between gritty reality and the character's inner fantasies, and the artwork and layout is superb. I could relate to so many things the main character struggled with, regarding a strange American Christian culture and the place of an artist in it, and I keep giving away copies as gifts to friends whom I know have gone through some of the same experiences. Now I spend my time in comic bookshops and libraries trying to find something along similar lines, although I can imagine the staggering amount of work Thompson has put into this book makes it unique.

This is the book I give to friends who have never read graphic novels and think that comics are only good for telling superhero stories.

Blankets is not the only book to show so clearly the strengths of this format. (I think Jimmy Corrigan actually takes the unique attributes of graphic novel story telling even further) but it is excellent as an introduction because it is eminently readable even for a comics novice.

Especially geared towards twenty-somethings and teens in story and I could see it being a seminal work in the lives of many teens in the way of Catcher in the Rye. But as a work of fiction it holds up for all ages. Anyone with an interest in good storytelling, and especially in pushing the boundries of the comic format, should check this book out.

Magnificently rendered art with a flowing, breathing brushy ink style that shows world class talent. No complaints there.

The story attempts to weave a jumble of threads together, and each one is fluffed up with details that seem to be meant to be profound, but are really pretty trite. Religion, hurtful relationships, bullying in school, girlfriend- yeah, it's nicely drawn, but it often leaves a bad taste of either self-pity or masturbatory idealizing. With a point, a premise, some imagination, it could be much more than one guy's diary. But it never gels.

If you're over 25 you probably won't want to read it twice- buy it for the art.

This is the first graphic novel that I've ever read. Graphic novels are a different breed entirely in my opinion, and I think will take some getting used to because I'm more interested in the words than the pictures and that shouldn't be the case. I'm sure there were things I missed, because there were several pages with no words and I tended to just glance at the picture and keep going. This is your typical coming of age first romance tale with a narrator who lives in rural Wisconsin. His parents are uber-religious leading him to think that he must lead a holy life or risk damnation. He meets this girl at church camp and falls in love with her. He even goes so far as to travel to Michigan to spend one of his holiday breaks with her (which would never have happened in my house, but whatever, it's fiction). Of course things don't work out the way he wants them to, but it wouldn't be a love story if they did. Besides the love story at the forefront of this book, Blankets also deals with issues like child molestation (though in a rather tangential sense), religious intolerance, and sibling rivalry. I thought it was good and an excellent choice for a first graphic novel.

Blankets is not only poignant and heart-rendingly written, it is beautifully illustrated. A masterpiece, simply. One of the great examples that illustrated stories can be every bit as worthwhile as traditional novels.

Craig Thompson's 'Blankets' is my first graphic novel. A friend of mine has been attempting to get me into the comic book style graphic novels, but somehow I came across Thompson's work. It was interesting to see that Craig is from Wisconsin (I am going to college at UW-SP), and it's wonderful to see both beautiful art AND a focused illustration.

The story is a beautiful one. Don't be intimidated by the number of pages in this book. It goes fast. I'm going to read it again and take more time to really concentrate on Thompson's illustrations.

now i know i might be a little wacky to say an illustrated novel is my favorite reading of all time. but that's exactly what it is. craig thompson creates such a unique atmosphere with this book that it makes it incredibly hard to put down. the drawings are superb, the plot is outstanding. he tells the tale of his growing up in wisconsin and his struggles in becoming the man he wants to be in this beautifully told story. this book will have you laughing, thinking, and crying. perfection. read this book with an open mind and you'll leave with changed perspective.

Craig Thompson's Illustrated Novel "Blankets" is a masterpiece. His story is well told and his imagery supplements it. Thompson's layouts are innovative and push the boundaries of the traditional graphic novel layout. overall the work is very strong. The term graphic novel, often applied loosely to this genre has true meaning in this book in that it truly is a Novel.

Most graphic novels are relatively slim, attesting to the amount of effort involved in evolving a graphic plot: not so BLANKETS, which sports nearly 600 pages of black and white illustration and offers up a blend of autobiography and a close inspection of romance and involvement. BLANKETS is an important achievement in graphic art: it covers fundamentalist belief, love, and life's transitions in much more depth than graphic novels usually offer. Very highly recommended.

Craig Thompson has said that the basis for writing "Blankets" was to describe how it feels to first sleep with someone else.

It's interesting reading that after finishing the novel. Yes, this is an illustrated novel, but that doesn't deter it from standing on its own as a great piece of literature. The writing is stark, and solid and the illustrations -spanning almost 600 pages- are vibrant and colorful (though they are black and white, they help one's imagination paint a picture).

As you've probably read, "Blankets" is a "coming-of-age" story of an adolescent named Craig (this is a memoir of sorts), and his Christian upbringing and how it affects his maturity and plays on his emotions and morals between the love for his brother and his first girlfriend, Raina. The story isn't very original. It's a story told by many cheesy romance novels and movies, and can be pretty predictable at times. That being said, the way Thompson crafts his words and illustrations more than makes up for any flaws this novel may have.

Like others, I often laughed out loud or became teary-eyed as I read "Blankets". It's so easy to identify with that one can't help but be touched by even the most mundane parental nuances or puppy-love inspired sweet nothings. I'm young and haven't experienced as much as this world has to offer, and I've only been through one serious relatioship, but I still find myself, my family and my soul in almost every page.

As long as this novel is, it's a pretty quick read. A page turner, too. I read nearly all of it in one sitting and wanted more. Maybe I wished I hadn't opened up this book to begin with, because it presents a tome of emotions which easily bring back memories of my own childhood. I'm sure with repeated readings I'll feel even closer; there's something here that begs to be looked at more than once.

"Blankets" stretches across the gap between normal comic book fans and the skeptical literary scholars who scoff at graphic novels. I can't recommend any illustrated novel more than this collosal, warm-hearted and bittersweet memoir. It steams with every emotion imaginable.

Maybe my expectations were too high. I read this book because it was recommended by a friend who had also read (and loved) Jeffery Brown's relationship-based graphic novels. I started Blankets expecting to find the same examples of intimacy that I thought were present only in my relationships, but surprisingly turned up in Mr. Brown's as well.

I found this novel alternatingly trite and elusive. I was frusterated almost the entire way through, maybe frusterated for him, maybe just frusterated with him.

That said, some of the artwork was beautiful.

The author accuratly portrays a typical Central Wisconsin teenage love story. I have lived almost my entire life in a town only about 15 miles away from the town in which the story takes place; the authors hometown. It is rich in local color and was reminiscent of my own formitive years.

Craig Thompson, Blankets (Top Shelf, 2005)

Blankets is a book that has gotten so much good press over the past year that it seems almost superfluous to write anything else about it if you've got a single good word to say. And for the record, it is a good book. I'm just not sure if it's all that and a bag of Fritos.

Another entry in the "graphic novel memoir" category, Blankets is Thompson's exploration of his own childhood-- specifically, falling in love for the first time, but there is a great deal of other stuff that goes along with that and takes us through his whole childhood. There's a lot of material to cover here (which shouldn't be surprising given the book's almost-six-hundred-page doorstop status), and perhaps the most impressive thing about Blankets is how unobtrusively Thompson is able to cover it all within the scope of the main storyline he pursues; there are a lot of flashbacks to his childhood, some of which cover some pretty thorny ground (and kudos to Thompson, doubly, for not overplaying some scenes that most authors would have made the central events of their books), but Thompson never allows them to grow far enough in importance to sidetrack his story. Structurally, the book's a marvel of restraint, and for that reason alone, not only graphic novelists, but writers of all stripes, should be using Blankets as a textbook for how to present emotional sucker-punches for maximum effect.

The downside to this structural mastery (there's always a downside, isn't there?) is that it exposes Thompson's powers of emotional manipulation. And, again to his credit, Thompson eschews the normal American emotional shortcuts so prevalent in our books, movies, and other media; Thompson's building of character and relationship is almost Japanese in its simplicity and willingness to simply let the actors' actions telegraph their emotions. This is all too rare in American letters, and it is welcomed with open arms.

Oddly, despite myself, I seem to be writing a rave review of a book which, in the final analysis, I enjoyed, but wasn't really taken in by. I think the reason for this is, ultimately, just like it was with Chester Brown's I Never Liked You (which covers much the same ground, but without anything approaching this sort of scope and majesty), it's nothing we haven't seen before many, many times. Blankets is deliriously popular with the emo-kid set because it covers much the same ground as all those same-sounding bands they listen to-- coming of age, falling in love, blah blah blah. And the messages to be found here are no different than the ones you're going to hear in any random Hawthorn Heights or Fall Out Boy song you care to listen to/endure. My hope, however, is that some of the devotees of this book will realize the subtle differences in quality that turn it from basic teen-angsty emo dreck into something literary, understand them, and (when said devotees inevitably do) wander off to create their own poetry, music, graphic novels, whatever, will think about those differences and use them to raise the benchmark, however slightly, for the quality of teen angst art. Lord knows it could use some benchmark raising. *** �

Perhaps I am a little biased in favor of this book; it mirrors my own first (and continuing) love and the slow, tender way a socially awkward misfit intertwines his life with a more well-adjusted but kind-hearted girl. The storytelling doesn't let you put it down; I read this in two days only because not sleeping at night was not an option.

I liked the ending a lot, although I know it does not appeal to all readers. Sometimes things turn out different than one expects, and we have bittersweet memories to keep for the rest of our lives. This book is full of them.

This is an illustrated novel that everyone should read. I was hesitant to pick up an illustrated novel, but after reading Persepolis my mental block was lifted and I am now an advocate for these novels. Anyway, Blankets will take you back to the first time you "fell in love" like no other book. I felt like I traveled back in time. Not only does author, Craig Thompson suck you in with his romantic story, but also his expressive, passionate and poignant illustrations.

The term "graphic novel" gets thrown around a lot, usually incorrectly. Not here. This is an honest to goodness graphic novel, clocking it at some 600 pages. And this is a 600 pages well earned. No fluff, no filler, all heart.

"Blankets" is tender, disturbingly personal look at the author's strict Christian upbringing, his childhood, and the first time he fell in love. So personal, so brutally honest, I sometimes felt almost dirty reading it, like I was peeking in through his bedroom window and witnessing things I should not have been witnessing. At other times, I had to put it down and walk away, it so struck a chord with me. Craig Thompson, in stirring words and marvelous pictures, bares his life for the world to see. All the joy, all the pain. Everything. Taking the journey through his memories is a moving, touching experience well worth reading.

Without question, "Blankets" is a magnificent achievement in graphic literature and further proof that comics do not have to be about men in colorful spandex outfits.

Ok, its got a lot of pictures and not so many words, so its a "comic book"? or is it a "graphic novel?" no sounds pornographic, how about "illustrated novel" no too National Geographic and science like. Well yes there is frontal nudity so its adult material and in a drawn story you get to read as well as imagine.

Anyway its not for kids, but it is for young adults. There are some hidden life lessons. And there is that whole overtone of the Christian faith and what it means to believe. And what it means to be true to yourself as well as your faith. I am so glad I wasn't raised in the midwest..

A very enjoyable read though. Made me want to find that pile of letters from my old girl friend and re-remember what life was like then.

I like this a lot, it was a very enjoyable story. Its a rather typical coming of age story, I suppose, for someone in the authors position. Not having grown up in a christian household, nor having any conservative religious relatives, much of the material is alien to me, and I found it a fascinating look in to a different kind of world. Much of the material is unnerving to me, particularly the "cubby hole". That was so nightmarish that I was dissapointed the father never felt any retribution for it at any time.

The main focus of the story is, for the most part, the romance between Craig and Raina. Its a good story, but I found the conclusion to it rather anticlimactic. Since it's a biographical account, I can't complain exactly, as the author is only writing it the way it happened.

I wish the story were longer. Yes, it is already 600 or so pages long, but I wanted more.

As far as a story about an ordinary person without any trappings of fantasy or any superhero material, I would say this book far surpasses other material in this area, such as Jimmy Corrigan, and I find it a much more satisfying coming of age story than Ghost World. Perhaps it's more sincere than those because it really happened, or perhaps the author is just a better writer than Clowes or Ware.