Why do they have to be so expensive?
My internet wanderings brought me to a very strange sounding one-shot graphic novel called Gingerbread Girl. I apologize if the photo above is deceiving, we will not be talking about Ranma 1/2 today! That's just... the only photo I have of graphic novels :D Who out there likes Ranma?!
So, Gingerbread Girl. The summary was intriguing:
"There are plenty of established facts concerning 26-year-old Annah Billips. She likes sushi and mountains, but hates paper cuts and beer breath. She dates girls and boys, and loves to travel. She may have a missing sister, or she might be insane. Did Annah invent an imaginary sister named Ginger during her parents’ ferocious divorce, or did her mad scientist father extract part of her brain and transform it into a living twin? In this graphic novel, a host of narrators including boyfriends, girlfriends, magicians, pigeons, bulldogs and convenience store clerks follow Annah through a night in her life in an attempt to determine that one last fact about Annah…and the Gingerbread Girl" - colleencoover.net
I'm not regularly into deeply psychological content (there's so much to think about) but I do enjoy a small dose from time to time. The story swaps consistently from lighthearted to deep and potentially disturbing/sad. The art is simple but enjoyable, and on the whole I found the dialogue pleasant and entertaining.
Cover of the graphic novel. Source
There are a lot of quirks about Gingerbread Girl, and my favorite is probably the way the story progresses. It changes from a third person perspective where the reader observes the characters interacting with one another (like normal), to a main character or animal passerby talking directly to the reader while alone.
In this manner Colleen Coover and Paul Tobin were able to incorporate a fairly wide cast, even though the story only involves three main characters.
It's available for purchase here, and it's also available as a free read here! It doesn't take too long to read, and its very interesting I think. The story ends on such a peculiar note, it almost seemed as though there were some pages missing. However, this didn't make me feel that the story was incomplete. All in all, the conclusion was in keeping with the constant idiosyncratic feel of the story.
Looking for something short and off the beaten trail? Definitely give this a read! There is minor adult content, and the webpage for it recommends a reading age of sixteen or older.
Looking for something else in a similar range? You should read Solanin. I received it from a friend for my birthday a few years ago. It has a similar existential/psychological aspect to it, but it's a bit more sad/depressing. It's another one-shot graphic novel, so it'd be cheap enough :)
Anyone have any recommendations for me?
-MJ
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