CLAY FOOTED GIANTS

McGuire and Chevarier examine modern masculinity in this frank, multifaceted graphic novel.

Pat and Mathieu are friends and fathers living in Montreal. Both are in a bit of a rut. Mathieu put aside his artistic ambitions as a filmmaker to become a stay-at-home dad. Pat, who has two kids—a boy and a girl—is on a teaching sabbatical and picking up the slack at home while his successful wife, an urban planner, frequently travels for work. A former college basketball player, Pat still dreams of dunking, which is really more about taking control of his life. The story soon zeroes in on Pat’s family. Pat has a complicated relationship with his alcoholic father, whom he only sees about once every three years. His father is illustrated in Chevarier’s expressive pencil sketching as permanently morose: frowning, hunched, a dark cloud shuffling along with a six-pack. Pat worries about his lineage of anger manifesting as momentary rage, one he fears has been passed from his father to him. In the moments when Pat takes out his anger on his son, Chevarier portrays him as transforming into a terrifying bear. Pat becomes increasingly absorbed in researching his father’s rarely mentioned service in Vietnam, particularly the medal he’s never discussed. Pat becomes so engrossed in this research that he ignores his son’s mounting anger issues and misses his wife’s gentle cues to focus on the future rather than the past. Throughout, the book has explicit, raw scenes, thorny conversations, and brief insights into the idea of epigenetic trauma. The artwork is always arresting, usually realistic, but sometimes shifting with the emotional states of the characters. The female characters in the story seem a bit underdeveloped, although such underdevelopment feels true to the novel’s theme about men who are exploring their own roles in modern parenting and life.

An authentic, well-rendered exploration of family trauma and the challenges of contemporary life.