Flower and Fade TP NM Jesse Lonergan 1st Print

Description

Flower & Fade Paperback
by Jesse Lonergan (Author)

Kyle has just settled in to his new city and job. He doesn’t know anyone around but it’s comfy enough in its boring routine. Erika, a pretty neighbor, catches his eye. They meet, they talk. Before they know it, they’re an ‘item.’ Before they know it, in fact, they’re very, very together. It’s a high but it’s frightening. Is it really the right choice? Are they really for each other or just escaping loneliness? There are great moments. There are doubts. In the midst of happiness, Kyle gets nightmares of pulling his teeth out.

Paperback: 187 pages (6×9)
Publisher: NBM

The most striking thing about Lonergan’s black and white comic is the deliberately inexpressive, realistic but minimal art. Many wordless panels look like amateur snapshots: they record the presence of objects or people without indicating what’s going on or how an observer should feel. Even in closeups of the characters speaking, faces seldom show what’s going on inside. This style is quite appropriate for the story of a casual relationship that can’t develop into anything more. Kyle is an alienated young man, living in a borrowed apartment and starting a boring job. Erika is a rootless young woman who works in a nearby restaurant. They meet, like each other, have sex, spend time together and have minor spats, then part. Short, diarylike chapters give only glimpses of the two during their affair, but hint that a future is possible. Both feel that their lives are meaningless, so they might be ready to find meaning in caring for another person. But Kyle in particular is uneasy about becoming emotionally vulnerable by getting too close to someone else. The story’s conclusion is sad but muted, suggesting that the breakup was inevitable with people like this, resulting in a book that thoroughly succeeds in being mildly depressing.

Flower & Fade is a comic book. If you think the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words” then you will love this book. Kyle, a loner, and Erika, his neighbor, go through the ups and downs of relationships. Together they try to give meaning to their life.

Kyle lives in a borrowed apartment, has a boring job and a meaningless life. His daily routine is working, drinking, sleeping and eating. When he meets his next door neighbor, he is entranced by her beauty. Kyle and Erika meet each other, start to like each other and have sex. After their first time having sex, Kyle even has nightmares of pulling his teeth out.

The ending is depressing, but it shows that books don’t always have a happy ending. Life doesn’t always have a happy ending either. This book relates to so many relationships that people can relate to it and when you can relate to a book it makes for a better read.

Near mint, 1st print.