Mr. Lightbulb

Home life is fractured for this young hero in a literal sense. His parents both work at a steelworks, where freak mishaps have left his mother snapped and his father flattened. Coping with that would be enough for anyone, but he soon has an accident of his own when he swallows a blob of molten metal and finds he can give off heat and light, like a lightbulb.

As he grows from Bulb Boy into the title character, the gift proves to be both a burden and a way of standing out. It sets him apart from other people while also letting him be seen. The tone moves between surreal, funny, painful, and sharply sarcastic, with a sincere core. Drawn in heavy, expressive ink, the book uses clever visual metaphors to render an autobiographical self-portrait of its creator through this protagonist, who juggles a difficult family life with artistic ambitions and a wish to find his own path.

The book runs more than 600 pages. It covers a wide stretch of life while keeping its plot moving at a brisk pace, and it is aimed at readers who enjoy ambitious, candid graphic memoirs.