Copper: Women I Have Loved
Kazu Kibuishi is a comic artist only a half-step below the legendary, pathbreaking Bill Watterson in my estimation. (Kibuishi's Flight anthologies are among the best indie comics I have ever read. They are beautiful and you should buy them.)
A good way of determining whether or not it’s art is to ask “Is it true?” The women of Kibuishi's Copper series map roughly but truly to three types that have woven their way in and out (but mostly out) of my own life: all three are missed opportunities and almosts and never-weres.
I've never successfully connected with any of these types. The women with whom I've had genuine romantic relationships have been very different; simultaneously more flawed and more perfect. What all of the types Kibuishi depicts have in common is the tension their presence in my life has created. That tension has always created the necessary conditions for art, or for personal transfiguration (which are really two facets of the same gem), but never for happiness.
A picture being worth a thousand words, here they are. Kibuishi's website is https://www.boltcityproductions.com. All images are his. Go check it out for more.
