Cartoonist Julia Wertz (Drinking at the Movies) makes comics that defy expectations, and with Impossible People, she offers a graphic memoir that tackles addiction, but with none of the expected dramatic highs and lows. The book opens boldly with a single panel depicting Wertz stranded after crashing a rental car in Puerto Rico and the simple phrase: "What the fuck." As the narrative flashes back to four years earlier, readers might assume they know what's going on--a drunk Wertz crashes her car, and realizes she has a problem. But in the comic, as in life, it's not that simple.
Wertz perfectly captures the oscillation between wanting to quit drinking and being unable to, a dance familiar to many who struggle with addiction. She knows she has a problem, but she's not as bad as her brother, who regularly overdoses before seeking treatment and getting sober. By contrast, she has a quiet and dull life, even if it is one dominated by a need to drink to the point of blacking out every night.
Despite these difficult elements, Impossible People is decidedly funny. The book is also uncommonly beautiful. Wertz proved her skill at architectural drawing in Tenements, Towers & Trash, and here she uses meticulously observed and finely crafted city scenes as a backdrop to her story. The contrast between the deceptively simple panels focused on dialogue or relationships and the heavily detailed storefronts and streetscapes is incredibly effective, helping readers to see, as Wertz does, the beauty of "little scenes of everyday life." --Sara Beth West, freelance reviewer and librarian