Good-Bye, Chunky Rice

AUTHOR: Thompson, Craig

ARTIST: Craig Thompson (illustrator)

PUBLISHER: Top Shelf Comics

FIRST BOOK PUBLICATION: 1999

Publication History

The genesis of Good-Bye, Chunky Rice was a series of short, autobiographical sketches that Thompson wrote to relieve his own homesickness after moving to Portland. Thompson worked on what would become his first book while doing illustrations for Dark Horse Comics and Top Shelf Productions, among other publishers. The final work, strongly influenced by his childhood love for Jim Henson and Dr. Seuss, was published by Top Shelf in 1999, quickly earning him critical, if not commercial, success. It was only after the success of his second book, Blankets (2005), that Chunky Rice became better known; it was then acquired by Pantheon Books.

Plot

As the story opens, Chunky Rice, a small turtle, is preparing to leave home and his love, the glassy-eyed deer mouse Dandel. Chunky Rice clearly has misgivings about moving on but reluctantly tells Dandel that “my home is on my back.” For unknown reasons, he has decided to venture to the “Kahootney Islands” on a ship chartered by a local seaman, Captain Chuck. Chuck’s brother, Solomon, cheerfully helps Chunky Rice carry his belongings to the ship, telling stories of his childhood that soon become significant to the story. While Chunky Rice is preparing to abandon Dandel, Solomon hastens to return to his own “love,” a pet bird named Merle. After Chunky Rice departs, Captain Chuck convinces him to abandon all his useless belongings (though he ends up pocketing them himself) and ushers him aboard.

On board, Chunky Rice meets his fellow travelers Ruth and Livonia. The sisters are conjoined twins, though Ruth is a little person and Livonia is of average height (Ruth perches awkwardly in a high chair beside Livonia). They are clearly running away from problems of their own, though nothing of their history is revealed to Chunky Rice.

As a paying passenger, Chunky Rice is given the “privilege” of doing chores for Captain Chuck, and while working in the hold, he finds all his abandoned belongings. While Chunky Rice is reading old comics and reminiscing about Dandel, the ship is hit by a terrible storm that floods the decks and nearly capsizes the vessel. The storm subsides, and Chunky Rice emerges shaken, but only until he hears the radio belting out a Motown tune. For the first time in the novel, Chunky Rice abandons himself to the bliss of the moment and dances with the twins. After dancing, he finds a live fish, which has been washed on the deck by the storm; encouraged to throw it overboard, he watches the sea swallow it up. The frame pans out, and the sea becomes a bottle of water, which Dandel is holding as she prepares to send a “message in bottle” to Chunky Rice.

The substories of the book, artfully connected to the main narrative, follow Dandel’s attempts to lure Chunky Rice home and Solomon’s search for his missing bird, Merle. The reader also learns the story behind Chuck’s curious indifference to Solomon. As children, Chuck blamed his younger brother for allowing their father to drown their dog’s puppies in a river. Solomon went his own way, marrying himself to the sea, while Solomon remained home, finding companionship with an injured bird. In a parallel to Chunky Rice, Merle’s wings heal, and she momentarily joins a flock of seagulls. She ultimately returns, perhaps suggesting Dandel’s last words in the novel, “There is no good-bye, Chunky Rice.” Indeed, in the last panel, one of Dandel’s bottles “clunks” against the bow of the ship, having already found Chunky Rice.

Characters

•Chunky Rice, in appearance a childlike “man turtle,” is an artistic, highly sentimental character, whose chief dialogue is internal. In some ways, he resembles a character in a silent film, who speaks more with his gestures and eyes. Only around Dandel does he express himself verbally, though these passages are relatively brief, as they occur in his reminiscences aboard the ship.

•Dandel, Chunky Rice’s romantic interest, is a small white “woman mouse” in appearance, with large, marblelike eyes. She often speaks for Chunky Rice and knows how to get him talking. Though obviously deeply in love with Chunky Rice, she is unable to follow him on his journey, even when he asks her to do just that. Nevertheless, she encourages his quixotic adventure of self-discovery to the Kahootney Islands.

•Solomon is a profound character in his own right (though initially providing comic relief) and a “double” to Dandel and Chunky Rice. Physically, he resembles a grizzled dockworker, with a large head (on which he always wears a cap), slightly oversized clothing, and a T-shirt that seems to read “Jesus Saves” (the script is always cut off by his jacket). Solomon’s most pronounced characteristic is his quaint “pirate” speech, which hides his clever insights behind a veil of buffoonery.

•Captain Chuck, a lifelong seaman, is like his brother in that his gruff, lusty exterior hides the pain beneath. Only to the sea can he open his heart and express his true wonder for life, love, and creation.

•Ruth and Livonia, conjoined twins, are seemingly ill-matched in every way possible: They are different sizes, have different tastes (one smokes, one does not), and even sleep at different times. As a counterpoint to Chunky Rice, they are content with their lot and are no longer searching for meaning; they have found it in each other.

Artistic Style

There is no mistaking Thompson’s work for that of another artist, and yet, the style of Good-Bye, Chunky Rice differs strikingly from his more famous work, Blankets. Perhaps in homage to childhood itself, the characters conjure up a world of talking animals and grotesque humans, part dream, part reality. As characters, Chunky Rice and Dandel could inhabit any Sunday morning comic strip, minus the clichéd punch lines. There is an overriding sense of cuteness and sentimentality in Thompson’s work that is entirely appropriate in this context.

Perhaps the most refreshing element of Thompson’s style is his courage to explore the metaphor of “cuteness,” or what might more appropriately be called the icons of childhood. Chunky Rice can be read as a grown-up Peanuts, perhaps; a story of what Charlie Brown does when he falls in love and decides to make it in the outside world.

Cuteness aside, the most striking quality of Thompson’s artwork is its sumptuousness; flipping to any random page reveals sweeping vistas of black and white, embellished throughout with striking details that repay several readings. A typical example occurs on pages 118-119, where the reader sees Chuck and Chunky leaning against the railing of the ship, taking in the grandeur of the ocean. The clean “white” space of the ship and the characters is contrasted vividly by the dramatically dark rolling waves all around them. Page 118 is a splash page, which is foiled by the following page (the two pages connect, as if to suggest one unified image), which has three long frames, each one slowly zooming out to show the immensity of the water. The waves are drawn with incredible detail, as if to suggest the reality that peeks behind the “cartoon” metaphor.

Aesthetically, the drawings are quite beautiful, but Thompson never settles for surface charm; with each pan out, the story comes into clearer focus. On the following pages, the ship has become a mere embellishment on the shifting, volatile pattern of the ocean, until it disappears entirely by the second frame. Here Thompson plays with impressionism itself, suggesting that the ocean is as much within as without. On page 121, the ocean assumes an oval shape, becoming smaller and smaller, until it fits in a single bottle of water—the water carried by Dandel as she prepares to send a new message to Chunky. These illustrations are entirely wordless, which attests to the power of Thompson’s imagery. His metaphors speak clearly through his sharp, though seductive drawings, always lifting the cartoon mask to peer at the people beneath.

Themes

The central theme of the book is the experience of loss, both when something one loves is taken away and when one has to choose to leave something behind, for whatever reason. Though Chunky seemingly has everything he needs, he is built for adventure and travel (his home is on his back, after all). In essence, can one ever appreciate home (and those one loves) without ever leaving it and them? Is home a physical place or a state of being? Clearly Dandel, Solomon, and Captain Chuck have all found this sense of home; the harder part is finding someone with whom to share it. Chuck has lost his wife, Glenda, and his new wife lacks his appreciation of the sea (she seems to stay below deck most of the time, emerging only to cook dinner). Dandel realizes that her sense of self is drained of meaning without Chunky; the sea reflects isolation rather than comfort, which she vainly tries to fill up with bottles. Even Solomon needs the comforting chirps of Merle to fill his days. Does life go on without the very thing that makes it worth living?

The book never reaches a definitive conclusion, nor does Chunky ever reach the Kahootney Islands (a name which sounds suspiciously like “hooey,” perhaps suggesting their illusory quality). Each stage of his brief voyage is punctuated by the baggage he brings along. Even when his belongings are more or less stolen from him by Captain Chuck, they all come back to him, reminding him of who he is and what he has left behind. As a young “man,” Chunky feels that the voyage out will be forever, turning his back once and for all on his former life. Dandel knows better, as her persistent bottles attest. Chunky’s mythic adventure to unknown lands will ultimately lead him back home, or at least to those elements of home that will always be part of him.

The sense of homecoming is echoed by other characters in the book, most notably in the twins. Indeed, despite their forced connection, they are still able to maintain separate identities and lives. In one passage, as Ruth falls asleep, Livonia calmly lights a cigarette and explains that Ruth always dozes off a few hours earlier than she does, providing Livonia with some peace and quiet. Each person in a relationship needs time alone. For Ruth and Livonia, it lasts a few hours; for Chunky, a few months or years. Every hero, from Odysseus onward, has to return home, and the bottle Chunky finds in the last panel foreshadows this conclusion. Nothing ends, whether in life or death; the world is continually made new through relationships and discoveries.

Impact

Following its publication, Good-Bye, Chunky Rice won considerable critical acclaim, with a Harvey Award and an Ignatz Award nomination. Even Alan Moore, one the most discerning critics on the comic books scene, in a quote found in the jacket of the novel, called the work “both funny and genuinely touching . . . an affecting meditation upon friendship, loneliness, and loss, all delivered with a real feel for the musicality of the comic strip form.” It took the subsequent success of Blankets, however, to make Chunky Rice a commercial success. After several printings of the book by Top Shelf, Pantheon acquired the rights to the novel and published a lavish new edition, clearly positioning it in the context of Blankets. However, the critical success alone was sufficient to open many doors for Thompson, and while writing Blankets (which took several years), he worked for Nickelodeon magazine and pursued other projects for Top Shelf. The ambitious artwork and storytelling of Good-Bye, Chunky Rice foreshadows Blankets and Habibi, forthcoming as of 2011.

Further Reading

Blain, Christophe. Isaac the Pirate: To Exotic Lands (2003).

Smith, Jeff. Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic in One Volume (2004).

Thompson, Craig. Blankets (2005).

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Carnet de Voyage (2004).

Bibliography

Gravett, Paul. Graphic Novels: Everything You Need To Know. New York: Collins Designs, 2005

Thompson, Craig. “Interview with Craig Thompson, Parts 1 and 2.” Interview by Brian Heater. The Daily Cross Hatch, May 28, 2007.