Friendship

Throughout Stuntboy, In the Meantime, the author and graphic artist explore the importance of friendship by depicting Portico Reeves and Zola Brawner’s close relationship. At the start of the novel, after describing Portico’s “terrible case of…the frets,” the narrator says that “the only person who ever seems to be able to help Portico get unnervous and de-fret is the other best person in the building . . . Zola Brawner” (9, 10). The narrator goes on to say that Portico and Zola are “best friends. Like, best best” (10). The narrator uses three superlatives in these lines, thus emphasizing the importance of their connection. This narration is accompanied by an image of Zola in the middle of the page. Zola is sitting on top of giant bubble letters, also reading “best best” (10). The pairing of the text and the imagery conveys how significant Zola’s friendship is to Portico...