What's in a Name?

I'm not sure I ever bothered to reflect on the title of Stuck Rubber Baby. Fun Home's title is certainly a lot more obvious, though at this point I'm seriously doubting that the Fun Home is that important to the novel--the relationships in her life appear to be much more important. What of the word "Tragicomic" in the title, though? I Wikipedia-ed (is there a better neologism for this verb?) tragicomedy, the portmanteau from which tragicomic is obviously derived and discovered another apparent fact: it refers to fiction with both elements of tragedy and comedy, duh. An antiquated definition refers to a serious play with a happy ending. Somehow I doubt Bechdel was using that second definition. And Fun Home certainly fits the first definition--it's funny in a dark, satiric, absurd kind of way but you get the feeling that there's something even more darkly serious and profound lurking in the background of her humor.

In any case, I do like this tragicomic a lot. Bechdel's art is very detailed, her people don't look like squirrels, and the shades of blue are a nice change from the black and white of Stuck Rubber Baby. If there is a criticism to be made, it is perhaps the uniformity of the paneling for the majority of the pages, but when she deviates from the norm she does so quite effectively. I particularly like the inserted texts and the use of photos, which are rare in graphic novels.

Speaking of the inserted texts, the comparisons to fiction and her verbose use of language are probably among my favorite aspects of the novel. It is nice to learn how Proust and Fitzgerald tie in to her father's life--how he can seem real to her only through fiction. It creates a sense of disconnection while at the same time revealing how literature functions in our lives. As for her diction, it is quite sesquipedalian for a graphic novel. I enjoy learning new words like prestidigitation and she uses her vocabulary quite well to create both background and humor.