Missouri Boy

A quiet, deeply personal graphic novel from First Second, Missouri Boy is a single-issue meditation on memory and the American heartland. The story follows a man's return to his rural Missouri hometown, where the landscape itself becomes a trigger for a cascade of childhood recollections. Published in 2006, this debut work established its creator's signature style of lyrical, understated storytelling, using the comic form to explore how place shapes identity. It matters as a poignant, standalone entry in the literary graphic novel movement of the mid-2000s.