AEIOU: Any Easy Intimacy

The third installment in Jeffrey Brown’s “Girlfriend Trilogy” of graphic novels, AEIOU is the perfect cold-day, cup-of-tea, sitting-by-the-window read. Once again, we are invited to experience a relationship from beginning to end—in this case, a rather ambiguous end. Small vignettes read like haiku, subtly capturing the happy, sweet, sad and frustrating moments. When read with predecessors Clumsy and Unlikely, this is also the story of a young man maturing and learning to handle the ups and downs of life. This volume is published in a smaller format than the others are, but with fewer panels per page—its beautifully hand-rendered drawings and lettering are not reduced. The new format works great in places, like the six pages dedicated to the couple moving slowly closer for their first kiss.