By D.A. Reed
WKTV Contributing Writer
Having sold two million Star Wars books for kids (Darth Vader and Son and Jedi Academy) and considered a pioneer of 21st-century graphic memoir, award-winning author and Grand Rapids native Jeffrey Brown is inviting readers to explore the intimate and timeless tales that first launched his career.
Loved And Lost: A Relationship Trilogy, produced by Top Shelf Productions, is set to debut Tuesday, June 14. These three honest and adult-oriented memoirs, written 20 years ago and now compiled into one work, capture timeless insights into love, intimacy, and vulnerability that make them authentic and relatable to readers.
“(I wanted) to make work that expressed whatI was feeling,” Jeffrey Brown told WKTV in a recent interview. Creating works that related to everyday life was important to Brown. “I thought to myself: The complete opposite of something super-conceptual would be to write something about real life and be as brutally honest as I could possibly write.”
While attending the School of the Art Institute, Brown began doodling comics in his sketchbooks about everyday awkward moments. “There was something about making those that felt very full-filling,” Brown said. The author went on to say that those comics, when he showed them to friends and family, were what seemed to connect with people.
Brown began recording his memories of a recent long-distant relationship in a sketchbook, revealing the emotional frailty of young lovers in writing and art. That first book, Clumsy, struck a chord with readers and prompted Brown to create his second and third graphic memoirs, titled Unlikely and Any Easy Intimacy.
The response to his work, Brown revealed, was unexpected. “These things I was writing about were more universal than I realized,” said Brown. “It’s comforting to know that other people can read something and tell you, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve been there,’ and appreciate that you’ve been there too. It’s a two-way street of connecting with readers.”
Putting himself in a vulnerable position by divulging aspects of his personal life didn’t come easily but was worth it to Brown. “As an artist, I’m trusting people with myself, with my stories,” Brown said. “By and large, that trust is rewarded. I find that when someone opens up and is vulnerable, people’s instinct…is to be empathetic and return that vulnerability with their own vulnerability.”
Collected into one volume for the first time, Love And Lost: A Relationship Trilogy reminds readers of real life joy, heartbreak, and humor that marks every life.
Brown revealed that he is curious to see what readers think of the memoirs 20 years after they were written. “It’s interesting to look back. Obviously,the world is very different,” Brown said, “but hopefully there’s still something in there for people to find value in.”
Over the last 20 years, the author and artist has released numerous titles and won several awards, including the Ignatz Awardin 2003 in the category of Outstanding Mini-Comic for I Am Going To Be Small, and back-to-back Eisner Awardsin the category of Best Humor Publication for Darth Vader And Son (2013) and Vader’s Little Princess (2014).
When asked what is next for the author, Brown said that he does have a few projects in the works, but that he has also begun an epic fantasy adventure book, something he has always wanted do. “I try not to overthink how I’m approaching things and just follow what I feel like I what I want to make next,” said Brown.
To find out more about author and artist Jeffrey Brown, click here: Jeffrey Brown Comics. To order a copy of Loved And Lost: A Relationship Trilogy, click here: Top Shelf Productions.
