A review by kstehel
Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw

3.0

I was original enticed into reading this giant graphic-novel because I thought the title was interesting and the plot seemed mysterious and intriguing. Any story that involves bizarre family elements earns my attention even if it turns out rather lame or dull. This is definitely suitable for the "odd" book shelf. I am somewhat disturbed by some of the pornographic images, if you will. However, further thought led to the realization that many books have explicit sex scenes with descriptive detail; they just lack the actual illustration that one often times creates in their own mind. Still! The pictures are stamped in my memory and they aren't pleasant. ARghh! The illustrations deserve some credit as holding their own as far as 'story enrichment.' I like how there are some instances where a few consecutive pages are just images alone and the audience is able to move the narrative forward without the text. That alone makes a graphic novel strong in the sense that they are notable for their illustrations. My last and final beef is the cheesiness and stupidity of several moments in this book. There are childish and immature scenarios that totally make me think, "are you kidding me with this?" Regardless, this is a decent book worthy of re-scanning. This is not for children and certainly geared towards adult readers solely based on the explicit situations. On the contrary, the writing is not up to par for an adult reader, a disappointment indeed.