The Last Book I Read

Andi Watson's Breakfast After Noon is one of the better graphic novels I've read in some time. It's the story of a skilled laborer named Rob who loses his job as an assembler in a china plant and is incapable of dealing with this turn of events in any kind of constructive manner. His fiance, who is laid off at the same time, copes more effectively, seeking retraining and moving on with her life. It's a small-scale tragedy, but the story is told in a manner that allows the reader to believe that Rob may in the end be capable of some form of redemption. His loutishness in response to his predicament is both understandable and infuriating, and costs him in all kinds of ways. There are truly forces beyond Rob's control at play, but Watson keeps his story squarely focused on the characters rather than turning this into some kind of political tract. In the end, those bigger issues are exposed anyway to some degree, but its effectiveness is based on making the reader recognize how close they could be to a similar plight as Rob, and forces one to consider just how differently (or not) they would respond to the same personal catastrophe. This highly empathetic approach certainly struck a chord with me, and I look forward to checking out some of Watson's other work.