Sunday

Sunday grew out of a conversation between Oliver Schrauwen and his cousin Thibault about wasted days. Thibault chose one ordinary Sunday in 2017. Together, they reconstructed it in detail: every thought, delay and non-event. Schrauwen then turned it into a graphic novel.

Nothing happens in Sunday. That’s the point. We follow the protagonist as he makes plans and fails to follow through. We sit with him in his reflections and fantasies. We gain insight into his insecurities and delusions. And we watch him beat himself up.

It’s relatable. I’m the complete opposite of the main character when it comes to planning and following through, but I am often overwhelmed by how much I want to do and how little time I have. Where he plans and sleeps on it, I act and become consumed by it. In his case and in mine, that can lead to a cycle of negative thought. I call this a doom loop.

I differ drastically from the main character, though, when it comes to negative impulses. For him, getting drunk and getting high are acceptable ways to fill the void created by boredom and by his inability to follow through on more ambitious plans. I could never fall into that habit. I pity people who do.

While this did not hit as hard for me as the work of Chris Ware, it clearly has something in common with Ware’s style of storytelling.