When the Wind Blows
1982
- popular works
- nuclear warfare
- english drama
- comic books, strips
- comics & graphic novels, general
- fiction, historical, general
- fiction, technological
The story
Raymond Briggs' now famous bestselling comic cartoon book depicts the effects of a nuclear attack on an elderly couple in his usual humorous yet macabre way.
What it’s like
Soft pastel watercolour panels framed in neat, almost square boxes, with the rounded, bulbous figures of an old British couple set against domestic clutter: teacups, a Anderson shelter, a kitchen calendar. The palette shifts from cosy beige and sky blue to sickly yellows and greys as the story turns, and the lettering reads like a hand-written diary. Its voice is chatty and gently absurd, full of cheerful misreadings of official leaflets, and it slides into quiet horror without warning. Violence is off-page and implied, with one stark, sudden image of catastrophe and a long, slow decline rendered with tenderness rather than gore. Think of it as a rainy-afternoon read that sits unsettlingly after dark: wry, tender, and sad, with dread accumulating in small domestic details. The pacing is unhurried, page by page, and the emotional register is bittersweet, following two loyal, bewildered people who trust the wrong things. Suited to readers who like graphic novels with a sharp, wistful humour and can handle a bleak, quietly devastating ending. Not for anyone wanting something gentle throughout.
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