Essex County

I recently finished reading the collected Essex County, which consists of three graphic novels. Combined it's a hefty book, over 450 pages. The drawing are uniquely gorgeous. There is a lot of brush work and scraggly lines. I love how raw it is.

































I was so head over heels for the first book, but was a little less in love with the second two, although I found it really fascinating how all three stories wove together through generations of people living in Essex County. That is what it is essentially about. People's lives getting tangled because they all live near one another. Well that, and hockey, death, family, getting old and birds. I was particularly fond of Lester a lonely young boy who thinks he is a super hero.
































I guess that is why I was less interested in the second and third book. I kept waiting for Lester to come back. There is no central character for the collected works. Instead there are separate central characters in each of the three works. I would like to read it again knowing that, so instead of waiting around for him I could really enjoy all the other intriguing characters.