Bottomless Belly Button

Dash Shaw's Bottomless Belly Button is a quietly monumental family drama, originally serialized online before being collected by çà et là. Spanning a single, sprawling issue, it charts the dissolution of the Loony family over a weekend at their beach house, following parents and adult children as they confront buried resentments and shifting identities. Shaw's stark, expressive linework and unconventional paneling give the story a dreamlike, deeply human weight. A landmark of early 21st-century graphic literature, it remains a touchstone for its intimate, unflinching portrait of a family in flux.