‘Sabrina’ by Nick Drnaso (2018) – 203 pages

“Sabrina’ is a subtle graphic novel that captures the unease, the sense of anomie, and the isolation of our current times.

A woman, Sabrina, is missing, perhaps the victim of foul play. Her affectless boyfriend Teddy is at a loss and goes out to Colorado to stay in the apartment of a guy he sort of knew in childhood Calvin Wrobel. Wrobel is newly separated from his wife and child and is a military serviceman who works nights. Wrobel hardly knows this Teddy but lets him have a room. They can barely talk to each other. Teddy spends all his time locked in the room listening to talk radio hosts with wild conspiracy theories. Wrobel goes to his military base job where he must take the following personal survey each day.

How many hours of sleep did you get last night?

Rate your overall mood from 1 to 5, 1 being poor.

Rate your stress level from 1 to 5, 5 being severe.

Are you experiencing depression or thoughts of suicide?

Is there anything in your personal life that is affecting your duty?

At first Wrobel can answer the quiz quite positively, but as Teddy gets on his nerves his mood worsens. Wrobel is also trying to get back with his wife and daughter.

A smaller part of ‘Sabrina’ also follows Sabrina’s sister Sandra as she copes with the aftermath of Sabrina’s disappearance.

‘Sabrina’ is more about capturing the anxieties and the various pensive moods of its characters more than concerning itself with concrete plot incidents. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of little drawings that depict the isolation and disquiet of these characters. In that way ‘Sabrina is more like a novel than a comic.The colors are subdued, not at all bright or flashy.

Sabrina is not a cheery story, but it does nail the uncertainty and distress of our lives today at this moment.

‘Sabrina’ was published by the Montreal comic and graphic novel publisher Drawn and Quarterly. Whereas other publishers’ comics are loud and violent and repetitive with their endless stockpile of superheroes and anti-heroes, Drawn and Quarterly produces comics and graphic novels that are subtle, moody, nuanced, and human. These are graphic novels that could actually qualify as fiction and literature.

Last week, ‘Sabrina’ by Nick Drnaso became the first graphic novel ever to be selected for the Man Booker longlist. This is a fortunate circumstance for me as I had already completed it. Let me say that I believe ‘Sabrina’ fully deserves this honor.

‘Sabrina’ is an original graphic novel for adults.

Grade : A