Close Menu
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Sequential PlanetSequential Planet
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    • Comic Books
      • Comic Book News
      • Comic Book Reviews
      • Comic Book Features
    • Video Games
      • Video Game Features
      • Video Game News
      • Video Game Reviews
    • Tabletop Games
      • Tabletop Game Features
      • Tabletop Game News
      • Tabletop Game Reviews
    • Anime
      • Anime Features
      • Anime News
      • Anime Reviews
    • Movies
      • Movie Features
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
    • TV
    • More
    • About + Contact
      • About Our Staff
      • Contact Us
    Sequential PlanetSequential Planet
    Home»Comic Books»Comic Book Reviews»Graphic Memoir Review: Plate Tectonics
    Comic Book Reviews

    Graphic Memoir Review: Plate Tectonics

    Alex Clark-McGlennBy Alex Clark-McGlennNovember 27, 2019No Comments3 Mins Read
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    Plate Tectonics

    Boom! Studios

    Writer & Artist: Margaux Motin

     

    Plate Tectonics is a graphic memoir written and illustrated by Margaux Motin and published by Boom! – Archaia. It is at once a humorous and sad take on heterosexual relationships, social norms and expectations, and parenting. There are many gems in the entirety of the piece, but it does stray into self-importance/indulgence, at times. But how does the whole of the piece hold up? Here’s a closer look.

    Plate Tectonics: An Illustrated Memoir

    So, it’s time to have a talk about memoirs. I’m not against the genre as a rule, but I do often find it self-important. The writer must believe they have something to say about their own lives that are inherently interesting or important for readers to know about. And if you’re a normal human being who doesn’t do an extreme sport or activity, then it means the author feels as though they perceive a normal situation in some profound way that they think would be meaningful to readers. That’s the kind of memoir Plate Tectonics is. It’s about everyday life. It’s relatable, funny, sad–normal. And it’s true, Minot is insightful and witty. She’s funny and candid. Which isn’t easy with the subject matter she tackles her. She finds herself in a midlife crisis. A single mother of 32, in the midst of a divorce and searching for meaning, this story is broken into small vignettes that are loosely connected thematically in roughly chronological order. The only thing that’s missing is a tie to the title of the piece. Plate Tectonics makes sense, in terms of the subject matter, but it doesn’t tie back to the piece as a whole. No overall theme that brings it full circle and lets readers come to a deeper understanding at the end.

    There aren’t many of them. Just the narrator, her daughter, her best friend, and her boyfriend. While there is character development throughout the book, as readers watch her daughter age, her relationship blossom, and decay. But in the end, little is resolved and it doesn’t seem as though the narrator or readers come to a deeper understanding of relationships, motherhood, love–or really anything. Unfortunately, this makes the piece as a whole feels like a let down at the end.

    Plate Tectonics: An Illustrated Memoir

    Minot’s art is as beautiful as it is unconventional. Panels don’t feature here–she throws them out and lets every page be a free-flowing scene with multiple images of the same person doing different things all over. It creates a unique flow on each page that is a joy. Her use of color is profound. She uses it in sparse splashes, illustrating those details that she wants to bring added attention to while letting simple and lines and white space guide the reader’s eyes. And lastly, the speech balloons. They are color-coded, and it’s cool that the words often spill out of them, but I can’t end this review without talking about the font. I know a cursive font added something to this piece in terms of overall. . . experience, but by and large, I hate reading cursive. While it’s not a deal-breaker, can’t help but wonder if a less loopy, more easily read font would make this graphic memoir more readable.

    Plate Tectonics

    7.0 Liked it

    A fun and thoughtful memoir. I just wished it had come to some more thorough conclusions or deeper understandings.

    • Story 7
    • Character 5
    • Art 9
    • User Ratings (0 Votes) 0
    Archaia Boom Studios Margaux Minot Memoir
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Tumblr Email
    Alex Clark-McGlenn
    • Website

    Alex Clark-McGlenn is a fiction writer by passion but has strayed into the realm of comics over the last few years. He discovered the glories of the graphic form late in life, at the age of 31. At the tender age of 32, he finally embraced his nerdom and plays D&D with his friends every Monday. He is currently working on his first comic book script. Check out what he's doing at alexclarkmcg.com

    Related Posts

    Red & Blue: Monster Hunters Coming to English Readers This December

    April 22, 2025

    One Piece: The Best Stuff In The Whole Cake Arc

    November 5, 2024

    Comic Feature: Box Brown

    July 3, 2024
    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    You must be logged in to post a comment.

    Thanks for submitting your comment!
    Latest
    7.0

    Video Game Mini-Review: Star Overdrive

    May 15, 2025

    First Impressions: MIND MGMT Playing Cards

    May 15, 2025

    Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Expansion ‘Brushes with Death’ Launches Today

    May 15, 2025
    7.5

    Video Game Mini Review: Maliki: Poison of the Past

    May 13, 2025

    Board Game Review: Harrow County: The Game of Gothic Conflict

    May 13, 2025

    Board Game Review: A Message From The Stars

    April 25, 2025

    Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma and Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar Pre-Orders Go Live for Nintendo Platforms

    April 25, 2025

    Maliki: Poison of the Past Brings Cozy Time-Traveling RPG to Switch and PC

    April 24, 2025

    Board Game Review: Furnace

    April 22, 2025

    Red & Blue: Monster Hunters Coming to English Readers This December

    April 22, 2025
    Categories

    Sequential Planet Copyright © 2018.

    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
    © 2025 Sequential Planet

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.