IN MY DARKEST HOUR

This brilliantly drawn and unrelentingly grim graphic novel follows the saga of Omar, a youngish man trapped in a dead-end job and an unfulfilling relationship, living in an unfeeling world. Omar's bipolar disorder makes him see life as a cruel slog, with nothing but death to look forward to. He's depressed, he's grumpy and he drinks too much. He's growing increasingly distant from his girlfriend, Lucinda; he chases other women and flirts shamelessly with co-workers. And all the while, at work at the card store and at home with his alcohol, he wonders what he's going to do with his life. Santiago's vision of humanity is brutal; his characters have great difficulty seeing beyond their immediate circumstances and relate to each other in only the most superficial ways. Society is against Omar: the owner of the card store is that reliable stereotype—the Jewish man who's blatantly prejudiced against people of color—and when Lucinda finally decides to dump the albatross that is Omar, readers will wonder what took her so long. Santiago paints Omar's world in a radiant pastiche of drawing, collage and all manner of PhotoShop effects; he abandons comic conventions—characters in neat frames with word balloons—for handwritten essays and disjointed musings. Despite the dazzling technique, readers may be left thinking Omar's story is as pointless as he thinks it is. (Nov.)