Blankets

Blankets is so relatable it's painful. Thompson makes you relive all the pain and pleasure of your childhood through his own brave and truthful true story. But the reason it hits so hard is not because of the dialogue or beautifully rendered sad eyes or even that these issues are universal. It's because Thompson knows what to draw, and it's not the action. He doesn't just draw them having sex for the first time. He draws how having sex for the first time feels. He visualizes ecstasy in swirls and halos instead of simply showing the act. He takes full advantage of the medium by using drawing to show something you can't tangibly touch or see in real life, feelings. That's why Blankets is so good. There have been a million stories and tales of first love and the trials of growing up, but Blankets shows what is happening inside while all of these events are happening. That is what makes this so relatable. While the events of his story may not have happened to you exactly in the same way it still is relatable because it's not the details that matter. It's the raw emotion associated with it that we have all felt or will feel. Thompson so expertly captures those feelings of lust, love, fear, doubt, and anger and draws them how they feel, not the exaggerated fake facial expressions we associate them with, but simple jagged lines and swooshes he is able to reflect what raw feeling really is.

Even though his line is smooth and practiced, the feelings are raw. I relate to those swirls and I can feel them. They trigger memories and I think that reaction is what really gets to the heart of this work. You don't remember every little word that way said or exactly what someone was wearing because it's not about that. It's that raw emotion that stays with you. That is memory. Memories are just the ghosts of raw feelings and Thompson is able to communicate memory and raw emotion in such a true way I struggle think of a story that captures that concept better.