Subtitled “A Graphic Memoir of Love, Madness and Revolutions,” Andy Warner’s Spring Rain is the story of his time studying literature in Beirut. While Warner lives the life of a 21-year-old student, enjoying the richness of experiences that youth can bring, the city descends into civil war. This isn’t an easy time for Warner, with the upheaval all around mirroring his own internal mental health problems.
Joe Sacco, arguably the best-known documentarian in comics, has said that “Spring Rain captures the feel of tumultuous and glorious Beirut in an evocative memoir that sits at the intersection of the personal and the political,” which sounds like a recommendation to me. The history of Lebanon is well documented but Warner’s take on it looks fascinating and truly individual.