In The Shadow of No Towers

Before I say anything about this book I first have to say that I never read a graphic novel. I did read the Sunday comics growing up but I never bought a book that was a “graphic novel” so I can’t really put down graphic novels because this was the first one I’ve ever read. Now, about this book, I’m fifty-fifty when it comes to liking it and hating it. At first I was put off by it because it was so confusing and hard to really get into. I didn’t like how each panel went from one emotion to another emotion to another thought to another fact, it just made me confused as to the point that Spiegelman was trying to get at. But after really looking at the panels again I realized that during that time that is how it was, that emotions where everywhere and there wasn’t a lot of answers to anything. That and the way that you had to look at the pictures just to try to understand it all was the main reason behind why I liked this novel. Granted I probably wouldn’t recommend this to anyone but as a first time look at a graphic novel for me I don’t think it was a terrible choice. I will say (and a lot of people probably might not agree with me) but I really liked the second half of this novel. With all the historical comics. Especially the “Little Nemo in Slumberland” and “The Glorious Fourth of July,” I liked them mostly just because they made me laugh, and the Little Nemo one just reminded me of the movie. All in all, my review of this graphic novel is fifty-fifty.