Graphic Novel Review: Cannonball

Posted on July 30, 2019 at 11:50 am by Gene Ambaum

Cannonball by Kelsey Wroten. Uncivilized Books, 2019. 9781941250334. 264pp.
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Recent art school grad Caroline Bertram seems to be going nowhere. She’s trying to write but is not satisfied with the results. Her gig copy-editing medical textbooks is shitty, and so is her attitude, but she doesn’t want to apply for a better job. She takes in a cat, befriends her bro neighbors, and finds a new hero, a champion woman wrestler called Cannonball. She does finally finish writing a book, which sets up the hilarious second part of the book.
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I absolutely love Wroten’s art — every page is great, and it switches to different styles to show us some Caroline’s works in progress. It’s a great example of a simple-looking drawing style used to its fullest potential, and the coloring is magnificent. My favorite things about the book: the casual, occasional nudity, the frequent rants, Caroline’s dad chewing her ass (I never want to be like that to my daughter), her cat trying to kill her, and her on-air meltdown near the end of the book.
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Hilarious and just altogether unexpected, this is my favorite graphic novel so far this year.