Blankets

I've chosen pages 13 and 16 of Blankets to do a close read of. On page 13, we finally meet Craig and Phil's father. As seen through a child's eyes, the author does an excellent job of making him look and sound intimidating. The fourth panel on page 13 portrays the father as disproportionately larger than the boys, leering over them, while they perspire with fear. And what the Dad says, "Don't question your parent's authority!", is written larger and darker then any other text on the page, making the reader a bit fearful of this character.
The single panel on page 16 conveys a child's imagination of what's in the "cubby", along with the reality of a stark room with a mattress. Thompson does a superior job with subtley using drawings of skelaton-like figures on the borders of the panels to convey what Phil is imagining. Also, the teeth drawn on the mattress, the overly large eyes of Phil, the huge hands of the father, the spider suspended from the ceiling, all make the reader understand the young boys fear. Interestingly, there is not text in this panel because words are not needed. Thompson was able to communicate effectively without words.
Craig's relationship with his father changes as he gets older. Thompson portrays this on pages 572-577 by drawing the father with gentle strokes and proportionately in line with the other characters. The father seems kind, calm. Craig no longer fears his father, but instead, is courageous enough to disagree with his religious views. The author seems to have made peace with his parents and that is shown by the happy drawings of family on the last pages of the novel.