Chester Brown Week! Day 4

Chester Brown is a Canadian born comic artist.  He began working independently in the late 80′s on his comic Yummy Fur.  His work is now published by Drawn and Quarterly. Beef Knuckles dig his comics so much that we’re having a week of Chester Brown.  His drawings are great and his comics are dark, humorous, absurd and sometimes quite moving.  Chester Brown rules.

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I Never Liked You, originally published in 1994 by Drawn & Quarterly, is Brown’s third graphic novel.  This is a great comic, and comes a very close second to Ed the Happy Clown as my favorite Chester Brown book.  Like The Playboy, it’s an autobiographical comic.  It’s also set during Brown’s teenage years.  It talks about growing up in a strict religious household, first love, crushes, and his mothers battle with mental illness.  Brown’s story telling is incredibly subtle throughout,  he builds the overall message slowly, with very little narration,  letting the reader find the connections between the sequences he presents.  It’s sad, awkward, funny and very touching.  I highly recommended getting a copy of this one.