Beginning, oddly enough, with a beautiful, disrobed French woman in front of an open window, The Blue Notebook opens up into a tale of intense desire, extreme romanticism, and revenge--all guided by happenstance. Reminiscent of Krzysztof Kieslowski's French film trilogy Blue, White, and Red with "its sense of the inevitability and odd quirkiness of fate," this comics manages to capture the spirit of everyday life and translate it into reading that is solid and mature. Author/artist Andre Juillard has a wonderful French style to his writing (the pacing and dialogue are bold, confident, smooth) and his illustrations (the clean, realistic line work and the muted, almost pastel colors are ensconced in the French comics tradition). Don't let the straightforward narrative fool you, there is much subtlety within these pages. The Blue Notebook demonstrates why comics are more akin to poetry than to novels: there is a richness in each character's expressions and in the dialogue that is truly satisfying.