A Matter of Life by Jeffrey Brown: A Jumbled Graphic Memoir

The graphic autobiography of a beloved artist, which turned out disappointing.

After reading 'A Matter of Life,' the autobiographical graphic novel by Jeffrey Brown, my first thought was that someone dropped the sheets of the manuscript just before printing and those who put it back mixed them up, and eventually published the book out of order. Then I felt maybe the artist already wrote an autobiography, and this is a collection of artwork that was edited out of it. I desperately wanted to acquit the writer of spoiling this book because I love his work dearly, though I've read just two of them before picking this one.

More than ten years ago, when I picked the comic book 'Darth Vader and Son,' I didn't think much about it. But the premise and the execution were so extremely hilarious that I bought the next book in the series, titled 'Vader's Little Princess.' Both books were about the parental troubles of Darth Vader, the ferocious antagonist of the Star Wars movie franchise. The writer reimagined a tired Vader trying to balance his work as a formidable Sith Lord and his private life as a father of Luke (in the first book) and Leia (in the second). While growing up, I never had much interest in Star Wars, which was for me the one where 'the dudes fight with tube lights.' It was these two books created by Jeffrey Brown that kindled my interest in exploring the series and a few other sci-fi movies too.

‘A Matter of Life' tries to explore the serious matters of parenting, faith, death, family, change, and entomophobia through the experiences of the writer from childhood. The book is dedicated to his son and his dad, and it is they who are featured predominantly in the narration after the writer. The writer grew up in 'Grand Rapids, Michigan, where they say there's a church on every other corner.' His dad is a minister in one such church, and his early life is spent in close proximity to devotees and spirituality. But we find that as a kid, he's not that interested in church matters and tries to escape them. It is these parts that are the funniest and the most interesting in the entire book.

While growing up, thanks to the influence of a friend who is more inclined towards the devil, Brown finds an interest in books about physics. He soon leaves Christianity, to the horror of his family and their friends. The narrative then goes on to his adult life as a husband and father, only to veer back to his childhood memories and then again return with no structure or rhythm.

I don't have any issues with an unstructured plot or a lack of systematic narration. But such randomness should produce something strong within the reader. The content of this book is very trivial and normal, which doesn't warrant any gimmicks in narrative styles. A normal, linear structure would have made it more interesting and palatable because there are instances where the writer really comes to his elements and creates something worthy of pondering. The unorganized nature of the memoir may make the reader miss the enormity of such events and thoughts. The artwork is too unrefined, rudimentary, and difficult to engage with, with lettering that's too crowded and cluttered to make sense of even while cast on the screen of a television.

While the autobiographical graphic novel 'A Matter of Life' exhibits many of the stronger elements of the artist Jeffrey Brown, they are far in between. The non-linear narration and basic artwork make it a struggle to keep the interest throughout the entirety.