REVIEW: Wet Moon vol. 1: Feeble Wanderings by Ross Campbell

Wet Moon vol 1.: Feeble Wanderings 
Author: Ross Campbell
Illustrator: Ross Campbell
Publisher: Oni Press
Genre: Contemporary / Realistic Fiction
Pages: 184
ISBN: 9781932664072

Review: For class this week, our primary readings were graphic novels. The other selections were Smile Raina Telegemeier, American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, Skim by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki and Black Hole by Charles Burns. I was fortunate enough to be able to read all of these titles, but I decided to focus on Wet Moon, as it was my favourite reading of the five.

The Story: Wet Moon takes place in a fictional southern U.S. town of the same name and largely follows the life of Cleo Lovedrop and her group of friends. There are some secondary characters who are featured as well: Myrtle, who works at a video store and encounters Cleo and her friends, and Fern, a young Asian woman living in a mansion in the bayou who is clearly interested in Cleo (though it's not clear why at this point.) 

There is no plot perse; the plot consists of Cleo and co.'s every day lives. There's gossip, and parties and the woes of moving out of home and starting community college. At first this turned me off somewhat.. I was wondering what the point of everything was. But the more I became acquainted with the characters, the more I found myself immersing myself in these characters lives. There are also several threads introduced in this first volume that are not resolved by the end, leaving readers with something to look forward to in future ones. For example, what is the deal with Cleo and Vincent? Why is Fern interested in Cleo? How is Myrtle going to be incorporated into the plot? 

The characters, following the realistic style of the plot, are realistically drawn themselves. Who hasn't experienced the angst and cynicism that Cleo exhibits? Or the nervousness of moving out and having to live with strangers? The supporting characters are equally vivid and brought to life, and also represent a wide swath of young adult experiences (alternative lifestyles and glbtq most prominently.) 

The Art: Campbell's art style is what initially drew me to this title. I loved Campbell's clean lines and attention to detail (especially in the clothing and styling of the goth/punk characters.) I also loved that the characters presented a breadth of body types. One of the stereotypes of comics (though this is more akin to superhero comics) is the idealized and fetishized versions of women's bodies that are often presented, with the large busts and perfect hourglass figures. This is not the case here: we have characters like Cleo, Myrtle and Mara who are on the rounder side, alongside characters like Tilby who have narrower frames. 

The great things about graphic novels is the interplay between the images and the words, and sometimes it's the images that say a lot more than the words. Wet Moon has many pages where there is absolutely no text; there is so much subtext, so much left unsaid that must be inferred from the images and Campbell's pulls off this feat wonderfully. For example, no explanation is given about Cleo's behaviour around Vincent, but the recurring image of her putting her hand to her stomach, and then subsequent scenes of her shown spinning in front of the window in the moonlight can give readers a pretty good idea of what may be going on. In this way, Campbell truly embraces the graphic novel format and it is this subtlety that made me fall in love with it.

Reader's Advisory: From a reader's advisory perspective, I am curious how this graphic novel would resonate with teen readers. I think that older young adults (17-25 age range) would relate to the characters and the plot of the story. The characters and their interactions feels like it was ripped right out of real life and transplanted on the page. But the story is very understated, which may appear slow or pointless to some readers. Readers must also be adept visual readers, as much of the story is not found in the words, but the pictures, and a lot is left unsaid that can only be inferred from the visuals.

Overall, I loved this graphic novel and would not hesitate to recommend it to young adult readers (though I would be cognizant of the points I listed above). The amazing art, and the authenticity of the characters and their relationships drew me in, and there are several threads left unresolved that have made me want to come back for more.