Goodbye, Chunky Rice - Craig Thompson

Craig Thompson is a local comic-book artist who's been in the press more recently for his 600-page autobiographical Blankets. But before that, he wrote this small quirky book with the strange title, the story of the friendship between a mouse and a turtle (named Chunky Rice). Publisher's Weekly (according to the quote on the back) calls it "an alternative-comics answer to Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince" ... which raises the question—did The Little Prince ask alternative-comics anything?

That aside, Goodbye, Chunky Rice is a charming book; it's sweet, poignant, whimsical, and bizarre; and Thompson's artwork is well-suited to the story. It's about friendship, moving on, and staying in touch.

Fed to jhliu's brain | November 11, 2003