When the Wind Blows

It's amazing how horrific something that looks like a children's picture book can be. From the man that gave us The Snowman comes the dreadfully sad story of a naive older couple Jim and Hilda as they try and cope with The Bomb and the fallout from it, in every sense of the word.

Quite poignant in today's political climate too.

When the Wind Blows was much different than I expected it would be. It's much lighter in content and has an almost juvenile appearance, neither things I expected for a graphic novel about survivors of an atomic bomb. Of course, what I hadn't realized before starting this short tale is that Raymond Briggs was an author of children's books ([b:The Snowman 489972 The Snowman Raymond Briggs https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1355497688l/489972.SX50.jpg 2499762] anyone?) and that this book was published in 1982, way before the advent of the modern graphic novel.The focus of this story is entirely on an elderly couple in the days leading up to, and after, a nuclear attack. Sounds heartbreaking, doesn't it? But both husband and wife are a bit daft, so their attempts to outlast the bomb and its effects are absurd. Despite the ridiculousness of their attempts, there is a sweet innocence about this couple that provides the necessary blow to the reader. As husband and wife grow splotchy and begin to fall apart, the haunting reality that this is not funny sets in.This is a simple story that has some chilling effects. It's not an exceptional story for its plot, language, or even illustrations, but it does strip away any bravado one might have for nuclear warfare.