Sunday

Olivier Schrauwen

Fantagraphics

Internationally acclaimed graphic novelist Olivier Schrauwen returns with a masterfully funny — and profound — day in the life narrative.

Sunday follows, over the course of one day, the stream of consciousness of a fictionalized version of the author’s cousin, Thibault. On the day of his girlfriend’s return from an extended trip, Thibault wakes up, does nothing, gets James Brown stuck in his head, drinks and smokes, grows paranoid about his relationship, struggles to compose text messages, watches The DaVinci Code, all the while avoiding anyone and everyone, descending deeper into his own thoughts and fears. Meanwhile, a former crush and another cousin of Thibault’s plan a surprise birthday for him, sending the external and internal on a collision course.

Schrauwen’s brilliant comic timing and formal mastery transcends the quotidian nature of the plot. Through use of color and flashback and the dissonance between text and image and the ways in which Schrauwen layers a depiction of human consciousness as lines on paper — infused heavily with slapstick and white-knuckle tension —makes for an exhilarating read and breathtaking use of the comics medium.