Sabrina

January 8, 2018
In this graphic novel from a rising star in the indie comics scene, a young woman vanishes, leaving behind her grieving sister and lover. But this coolly despairing narrative focuses on a character only tangentially connected to the incident: Calvin, a divorced, sleeved-blanket-wearing Air Force technician who was friends with the boyfriend in high school. When Calvin agrees to let his old friend crash at his place, he becomes the target of vague, hostile conspiracy theories spread by internet cranks and late-night radio hosts. Like Drnaso’s debut, Beverly, the small, precise dramas of Midwestern suburban life are positioned against a larger canvas of contemporary paranoia, rumor-mongering, and violence. The art is characterized by simplified, blocky figures moving though meticulously measured geometric settings—Drnaso wears the influence of Chris Ware on his sleeve. But these comics are much talkier; interstitial, small square panels are filled with blocks of dialogue. The result is a well-crafted, if often frustratingly distant, indie drama, as if Drnaso is reluctant to let too much messy emotion into his careful dioramas.

Starred review from June 1, 2018

In Drnaso's enthralling sophomore effort (after the acclaimed Beverly), a woman named Sabrina vanishes from her Chicago apartment, leaving friends and family haunted by what might have befallen her. Unable to cope, her boyfriend Teddy takes refuge with his childhood friend Calvin, a U.S. Air Force airman struggling with the end of his marriage. When Sabrina's horrific fate is finally revealed, our cast find themselves at the center of a news cycle quickly warped by a paranoid, apocalyptic radio host and his legion of online supporters who refuse to believe the official story. Cinematic and deeply timely, this tale is torn from today's darkest headlines of fake news, terrorism, and the ultimately dehumanizing effect of the Internet. Drnaso's artwork seems basic at a glance, but page to page, panel to panel it reveals depths of emotion that culminate in a reading experience guaranteed to linger. VERDICT More indictment of modern life than satire, and almost sure to be one of the most discussed graphic novels of the year--if not the next several, this should skyrocket Drnaso to the top tier of comics creators today.--TB

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from June 1, 2018
Drnaso's debut, Beverly (2016), offered a quietly forceful examination of suburban ennui. Here, he ups the ante with a masterful look at the emotional toll taken by the dehumanizing forces at large in modern society. It begins with the disappearance of the titular Sabrina, a young woman living in a Chicago suburb, but the focus shifts to Calvin, an airman stationed in Colorado, who agrees to take in the boyfriend of the missing woman, his childhood friend, Teddy. Emotionally fraught and withdrawn, Teddy borders on catatonia, while Calvin is dealing with his own problems. Separated from his wife and daughter, he's considering moving to Florida to be near them. Once Sabrina's grisly fate is revealed through a videotape, a susceptible Teddy becomes obsessed with a fringe radio show's broadcasts about the murder, and conspiracy theorists implicate Calvin in a perceived coverup of the crime. Drnaso's restrained visual approach?a rigid panel grid; thin, unrendered lines; and a flat, muted color palate?underscores the quiet desperation of his characters. Most panels contain only a single figure, accentuating their disconnection and isolation. Drnaso's subtly penetrating work is an incisive depiction of emotionally stunted men who don't need a tragedy to display the symptoms of trauma victims.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)