Sabrina is a 2018 Graphic Novel by Nick Drnaso, first published by Drawn & Quarterly. It tells the story of the disappearance of a woman called Sabrina, and the impact it has on her family and wider society. This includes her sister Sandra, her boyfriend Teddy, and Teddy's friend Calvin, a US airforce officer who offers him shelter. Besides coping with the loss of Sabrina, the three must also contend with the stresses of the 24 hour news cycle, and the intrusions of conspiracy theorists and stalkers that target them.
Sabrina received widespread critical acclaim for its handling of adult themes, and for its gloomy and eerie atmosphere. It holds the distinction of being the first comic to be longlisted for the Booker Prize.
This Comic provides examples of:
- Art Shift: The dream sequences are starkly different from the bland waking world, with people painted in bright neon outlines in a black void.
- Beige Prose: Dialogue throughout the comic is muted and dispassionate, with no one ever knowing what more to say.
- Conspiracy Theorist: Teddy listens to endless radio broadcasts from an Alex Jonesesque conspiracy theorist. Calvin is contacted by them anonymously, and he himself is a doomsday prepper and increasingly prone to paranoia.
- Crapsack World: The world of Sabrina is presented through muted colours, bland rooms and and silent, creepy spaces. In the wake of 9/11, society has descended into paranoia and isolation. People are quick to resort to grand conspiracy theories, unable to trust anything they hear.
- Decompressed Comic: Calvin's walk to his office nightshift are drawn out through a series of eerie corridors and empty spaces, without anything to break the silence.
- Long-Distance Relationship: Calvin is divorced, and struggling with living long distance from his former wife and daughter.
- Motor Mouth: Whereas the main characters speak briefly and awkwardly, the various conspiracy theorists they encounter talk and write breathlessly.
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Paranoia Fuel: Calvin's fear of being stalked or attacked by conspiracy theorists, which heightens whenever a stranger enters his life. Transfers onto the reader when an unusually insistent man keeps offering to help Teddy. - Silent Scenery Panel: Used extensively throughout the comic.
- Soul-Sucking Retail Job: Calvin's Airforce data security job is utterly dull and uneventful, and a far cry from the life of adventure the tv adverts present the USAF.
- Tropey, Come Home: Teddy, who has spent the entire comic directionless, finds sudden purpose in searching for Calvin's missing cat.
- Uncool Undies: The depressed Teddy spends most of the comic sat indoors in nothing but tighty whiteys.
- Vagueness Is Coming: The conspiracy radio show repeatedly speculates about an inevitable uprising against an unknown controlling world order, but it can't say what it will involve or who it is even specifically against.
