Titus's Reviews > Bottomless Belly Button

An unexpected event brings together the disparate members of a family who don't see each other very often. Each dealing with their own issues as well as renegotiating their relationships with one another, they re-evaluate their childhoods and maybe even their very conception of family, and they generally learn a bit about themselves in the process. There may not be a name for it, but what I just described is basically a whole genre in itself – think The Royal Tenenbaums or The Meyerowitz Stories. It makes sense that this is a popular premise: the nuclear family decisively defines most people’s childhoods, and returning to that once familiar group later in life – often with the addition of external people, like spouses and a new generation of children – can be awkward, painful, confusing, joyous, hilarious and/or deeply nostalgic. Not only is this an experience to which almost everyone can relate, but these types of encounters also serve to highlight the unavoidable fact that time passes and people change (and age), so they have the potential for universal resonance.

Bottomless Belly Button is an excellent entry in this genre. With just the right mix of emotional introspection and light-hearted humour, it's a compelling and rather breezy read that flies by despite its considerable length. It's straightforward, conventional and fun in ways that should ensure it fairly broad appeal, though it's very character-driven, with little in the way of overarching plot. Each family member has an arc, but these don't reach neat resolutions; it's more a case of just watching them each grapple with their respective issues for a while. I appreciate this open-endedness and lack of hackneyed Hollywood ending, but I can imagine it might disappoint some readers. Nonetheless, the characters are all realized so believably that I think anyone should be able to enjoy this sojourn into their lives.

The artwork isn't immediately arresting, consisting of quite spare black-and-white ink drawings in a cartoon style. However, Shaw's cartooning is very competent: the characters all look distinct, with appearances that fit their personalities, and they emote in a way that's crystal clear without being over-the-top. There’s also some nice formal play, with clever variations in the size, number and arrangement of panels on the page, and very effective use of white space between them.

This is a rare comic that has serious literary pretensions but never lets them get in the way of being a fun read. It manages to address life's big questions in a sober and impactful way, while always remaining grounded by its colourful characters and sense of humour.