Graphic Novel Challenge: Ethel & Ernest

As my second graphic novel for this month, I chose Raymond Brigg's Ethel & Ernest which is a true story about his parents' relationship from their first meeting in the 1920s to both of their deaths in the 1970s. I chose this graphic novel because it was written and illustrated by the author of The Snowman which I read as a child. The Snowman was a story told entirely through pictures and was without any words. It is for this reason that I decided to read this graphic novel because I was curious how he would handle an adult story. Though Briggs does not tell of their entire lives together, he gives the reader glimpses into their lives and covers such issues as their courtship, marriage, children, World War II and the birth of modernity. Through the couples' fighting and making up, Briggs shows an average marriage with all of its ups and downs. He includes humor into the story when he tells of his parents' response to television, a man walking on the moon, and other cultural changes that they faced. Though the tale is simple, it is quaint and touching.

The drawings are perhaps Brigg's greatest asset. They are simple and similar to that in The Snowman which are very colorful and appear almost like watercolors. In many ways, that are just as childlike as those in his former child's tale. I was put off by this at first and thought that his illustrations might not be mature enough to carry an adult story. However, I think that he did a fantastic job by using his technique to reveal the child in both of his parents and how they never relinquished their youthful courtship for each other. Through war and despair, they endured and the reader feels a connection to their connection with each other.

-DLP