Pictures of You is the follow up to acclaimed writer Damon Hurd and laureate artist Tatiana Gill’s graphic novella of teenage alienation, kinship, and romance A Strange Day. In this prequel, both Miles and Anna experience the changes that shape them into the two misfits who skipped school looking for the latest Cure album, and found what was missing for them both. One year before their chance encounter, Miles and Anna lived parallel lives only a few miles apart. Miles is both jealous and overprotective when Sarah, his best friend since junior high, starts spending more time with her new boyfriend. Anna’s family is ending in divorce, her only solace is with the boy next door Ethan, a college bound musician who is growing apart from his younger sidekick leaving Anna’s romantic feelings for him unrequited.
“Having written both autobiography and fiction, the line that separates them can often become blurry. Even with my fiction, like Pictures of You, I feel like I couldn’t have written the story without aspects of my experiences informing it. The story is not one from my own life, nor are the characters stand-ins, but they are all very much a part of me. I think that Pictures of You is the story of most people’s adolescence. Everyone had a best friend, a person they counted on and was part of their daily existence. Everyone was lonely. Everyone longed for someone. Everyone was a bit of a drama queen. I made a conscious choice to write Pictures of You from the point of view of a teenager. The story is told “in the moment” by a young man and not years later being recalled wistfully by an older and wiser adult, and I think the story is better for it.” — Damon Hurd
Pictures of You is an emotional tour de force. I cried while drawing it, and you just might cry while reading it. I tried to convey the thick and complex emotions that humans feel in my composition and inky brush lines. On its pages are the pain of neglect and dashed dreams, alongside the beauty and hope that friendship brings to our lives. Pictures of You is a powerful statement on how much we need each other, and how much we can help each other with our love." — Tatiana Gill
96 page black and white paperback with full color covers Alternative Comics, 2007
