Ripple: a predilection for Tina

By Dave Cooper. Published by Fantagraphics

Hardcover, 136 pages, 2-Colour, 2017 (originally published 1999-2003)

This is a reprint of a popular graphic novel, in which an artist and model fall into an abject relationship.

In Ripple, Martin is a floundering painter desperately attempting to pursue his fine-art inclinations rather than toil in the world of commercial art. He hires a model, Tina, to pose for a series of paintings he dubs "The Eroticism of Homeliness." Over time, their relationship evolves from a tenuous working relationship to a confused sexual entanglement. Martin’s initial repulsion for Tina slowly turns to attraction, causing him to re-evaluate his own notions of beauty and sexuality. Tina’s motives in working for Martin are slowly turned upside-down as well, leading toward the book’s inevitable, explosive ending. Sad, funny, and often uncomfortably titillating, Ripple is rendered with kinetic realism.

"This new hardcover edition of Dave Cooper's Ripple is yet another comics art masterpiece that belongs on the shelf of greatest graphic novels. It is essentially the story of an artist and his muse — but it explores that thin line between repulsion and attraction and the eroticization of homeliness. Plus, Cooper's art is uniquely magnificent." — Largehearted Boy