Wolf

Employing supernatural elements to represent a child’s grieving process, Ball’s viscerally moving graphic novel of parental loss unfolds like a haunting dream. Ball (The Inflatable Woman) depicts 1970s working-class England through the viewpoint of Hugo, the youngest of three, who clings to the memory of their father, who died in a freak accident. While Hugo’s teenage brother Eric glowers and Mum tries to keep the family afloat, Hugo sets out to build a time machine so he can go back and spend time with his father. This scheme leads him to a sickly, reclusive neighbor known in local kid lore as “the Wolfman.” The lonely stranger who returns a damaged nuclear family to itself is a weary archetype, but Ball’s execution is excellent. Her wooly drawings of dark holes, shadow creatures, and children who straddle the line between cute and creepy evoke the sad, scary, and wondrous parts of childhood fantasy. The story drives home the irrevocable absence of death and the resurrection fantasies that children of any age harbor in grief. The rules of Ball’s universe aren’t always abundantly clear, but that’s the point. This affecting work reminds readers that in memory, anything is possible and everyone is immortal. (Oct.)