Drawn & Quarterly is easily the champion of comics, bringing the finest in new talent to the scene. However, its one failing is that a large portion of its most popular comic artists all seem to explore the same topic of either self-introspection and depression or their take on historical events. Thankfully, in publishing Michel Rabagliati’s refreshing and wonderful Paul In The Country, Drawn & Quarterly has moved in a new direction. Paul In The Country is a beautiful, quiet and modest story of the title character taking his wife and young daughter for a vacation in rural Quebec. As they arrive at their destination, Paul recounts with humour and nostalgia his own youth spent in the same area. The stories are often as charming as they are heartbreaking, and always beautiful in their simplicity. This is a read that demands to be savored with artwork that stays in line with its relaxed, but precise, pace. Paul In The Country is a treasure in every sense of the word. Keep a look out for Michel Rabagliati’s full length book Paul Has A Summer Job, to be released later this year. (KJ)
comic, 28 pages, $4.95, Michel Rabagliati, Drawn & Quarterly, PO Box 48056, Montreal, QC, H2V 4S8