Comments on: old people + radiation = disturbing graphic novel

Question: old people + radiation = disturbing graphic novel

changeling — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 11:17:50 -0800

Help me find the name of a graphic novel, in which a naive elderly couple deal with the aftermath of an atomic bomb. . .

I found it in the bookshelf of my Science Fiction/Fantasy Writing professor a few years ago. The art was very cartoonish, I remember.

A bomb went off somewhere, and this elderly couple was terribly naive when it came to radiation and fallout--- like drinking water with ash in it from the fireplace. Or is that from Children of the Dust? I remember further along they grew thin, and their hair fell out. . . Obviously, a disturbing book. But it's been nagging at me for years. Anyone?

By: buxtonbluecat

buxtonbluecat — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 11:19:06 -0800

Raymond Briggs, "When the Wind Blows"

By: changeling

changeling — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 11:23:22 -0800

That was insanely fast. You are awesome.

By: Constant Reader

Constant Reader — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 11:38:50 -0800

There is also an animated version. Disturbing as well.

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 12:56:44 -0800

Oh I love this book.

By: Telf

Telf — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 12:58:10 -0800

I just bought this book based on the Amazon info. It sounds haunting.

By: leesh

leesh — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 13:10:03 -0800

I also highly recommend Ernest and Ethel by Briggs (there's no radiation plotline, but it's very touching).

By: mdn

mdn — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 13:20:03 -0800

I totally remember this, I think from when I was a kid... haven't thought of it in years, but it was definitely a favorite at one time. And I looked at the amazon page and absolutely recognized that cover. anyway, thanks for the reminder.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 13:36:53 -0800

ZOMG: My mom read that too me when I was a kid!

By: delmoi

delmoi — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 13:40:24 -0800

Actually a couple of months ago my mind was wondering and I thought of the book, and I realized that it didn't seem like normal childrens liturature at all. In fact, the story seemed so out of place that I began to wonder if I'd just made the whole thing up.

I actually asked my mom about it the next time I talked on the phone, and she told me that it was real.

By: tomble

tomble — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 14:38:15 -0800

That was a remarkable book, and very grim.

The mistake people made when it came out was to think `Oh, it's drawn? Kids book!'.

It was in the library of my primary school!

By: A Thousand Baited Hooks

A Thousand Baited Hooks — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 16:42:06 -0800

My primary school had it as well. It also had some other Raymond Briggs stuff which was more obviously directed at children, so I guess they either mistakenly assumed it was a children's book like Fungus the Bogeyman or they wanted to teach us a lesson about nuclear holocaust.

By: ArchEnemy

ArchEnemy — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 18:15:48 -0800

Not related to the question per se, but this thread has finally given me the clue to start my google-fu and find this film, which was shown on a tv special about nuclear war aftermath many, many years ago, just following the animated version of "When the wind blows".

I had been looking for this movie for YEARS. Thanks, askme.