This “graphic novel†may speak to 20-somethings just leaving college or about to leave college ― at least a comfortable, middle-class, isolated women’s college (aren’t they all?) ― with no outward concerns beyond their own close community of friends and love interests, but it left me bored and disinterested within the first few pages. Perhaps it’s because I just came off a Sandman marathon, or I’m old fashioned and like story arcs, transitions, character development, conflict, resolution, even in my comics.
The Floundering Time is Weselcouch’s first comic, following a history of writing zines. It tells the story of Emma and Joey, best friends, in the last week of their senior year at a women’s college, as they plod through the usual drunken parties, car trips, and packing, all while avoiding the future. Several flash-backs round out the relationship concerns that form the bulk of the story. Emma spends most of her frames mooning over her transgender friend Elliot.
The Floundering Time should find a home in a young-adult fiction collection in a fairly liberal public library that houses an extensive collection of graphic novels.
Reviewed by, Morgan Gwenwald
Sojourner Truth Library
SUNY New Paltz
