When a work as reaching and compelling as Jeffrey Brown’s Clumsy appears, it cannot but force the skeptics to re-think their instinctive criticism and second-guess what they think they know. Through an artistically sound vision and intricate storytelling, it’s hard to not consider “the funnies” as a legitimate medium where the combination of picture and word can come together to elevate.

Through a fragmented narrative, Brown’s autobiographical love story is told through a series of chronologically disparate scenes, ranging from personal, seemingly insignificant personal moments, to turning points of first rank consequence. Drawn in frail, uncertain lines, both the writing and imagery convey a story human and emotional, delicate and anxious, wrenchingly taking us through the steps of a relationship, no matter how small, like a brokenhearted friend would: assembling the pieces through memory and stringing them together by feeling and spontaneousness, to make us understand just how deep their memories have been cut.

Book: Clumsy

Author: Jeffrey Brown

Publisher: Top Shelf Productions

Next: Asylum