Stories of desperation, told in words and images

Killing and Dying By Adrian Tomine Drawn & Quarterly Publications Hardcover 128 pages S$31.95 in bookstores Rating: B+

Reviewed by Helmi Yusof

WHEN you think comics, you think big action graphics, small speech balloons and half-page panels that say "Kapow!" and "Bam!". But serious comic artists like Chris Ware, Alison Bechdel and Adrian Tomine have changed that impression with graphic novels that are as quiet, spare and minimalist as a short story by Raymond Carver, Alice Munro or Andre Dubus.

The latest book by Tomine, a regular contributing artist to the droll covers of The New Yorker, is an exquisite collection of six graphic stories set against the backdrop of middle- and working-class America. These stories centre on ordinary folk doing their best to get by, but who are often set back by external circumstances or, worse, themsel…