Consider this a public service announcement of sorts. Last night, I read The Nao of Brown, by Glyn Dillon (Steve Dillon’s brother, for those who like to know about comic book familial relationships), which is described by its publisher thusly:
Nao Brown suffers from OCD, but not the handwashing, overly tidy type that people often refer to jokingly. Nao suffers from violent morbid obsessions, while her compulsions take the form of unseen mental rituals. Working part-time in a “designer” vinyl toy shop, while struggling to get her own illustration career off the ground, she’s still searching for that elusive love – the perfect love. And in meeting the man of her dreams, she realizes… dreams can be quite weird. Nao’s meditation practice is an attempt to quieten her mind and open her heart, and it’s through this that she comes to understand that things aren’t so black and white after all. In fact, they’re much more… brown.
It was just released through Diamond yesterday, for those curious enough to check it out, and I urge you to do so. Not only is Dillon’s writing wonderfully messy in a way that feels honest and affecting and thoughtprovoking, but it is also the best-looking comic I have seen in the longest time (And this has been a year filled with some beautiful comic books). Here are three pages to back up my claim:
A serious contender for graphic novel of the year, for me. If you like stories about normal people with real problems told with kindness, subtlety and humor, hunt it down. If nothing else, just for the amazing, amazing art.
We now return you to your regular posts about superheroes and snark.
