Good-bye, Chunky Rice back

Apparently the big hit of the San Diego convention this year. Feels like the book of '99 for me.
Alan Moore, Eddie Campbell, Dylan Horrocks and Jeff Smith all lend their weighty praise on the back cover so, in good company, I'd like to add my small voice to the growing throng. It is amazing to see a fully formed first book spring to life in front of you. Thompson presents different friendships and different goodbyes all threaded into this story of Chunky, a dissatisfied turtle embarking on a ocean voyage. He leaves behind his lover/friend, Dandel, the tiny mouse girl who, after an apparent lack of interest at his departure, dispatches message after message in bottles via the sea ("This one also says 'I miss you'. Maybe I'll have something else to say soon"). This book combines all the joy of the above artists (Horrocks' view of the mechanics of storytelling and travel, Smith's deft epic cartooning and longing) without being derivative. Parts choked me up, but I'd never deny that I'm a big softie.