The Best Graphic Novels Ever #30 -- The Lump

Before I get into this series, let me preface this list with my definition of "graphic novel." For the most part I'm not counting mere trade paperback collections from a series, unless the stories is conceived as a single, stand-alone tale independent of the rest of the series (hence no volumes of Terry Moore's Strangers in Paradise, which would top a list of best series ever). Also, in the case of a story being long enough to continued across two volumes, I'm just counting it as one story. Finally, I'm also allowing a single volume version of a maxi-series.

Now that we're all clear on the definitions, let's dive right in, shall we?

30. The Lump
by Chris Wisnia
Published Salt Peter Press

Here's one you've probably never heard of unless you're a true connoesseur of independent and small press comics. It's a great little noirish mystery with a heavy dose of weird thrown in when a lump of a body is discovered on the highway, battered beyond recognition.

From there, it's a crazy sort of existential ride until the ending where you learn that sometimes all the dots don't connect, and well, that's life.

While it's not for the reader who likes all his or her stories wrapped up in pretty paper with a delicate bow, for readers willing to take a chance on a book that is to graphic novels what Miles Davis is to jazz, it's well worth picking up.