The Bottomless Belly Button - Dash Shaw

In the most literary graphic novel of the year, a grown family comes together at the shore for a last family reunion before the aging parents’ divorce. The relationships between the characters in Dash Shaw’s Bottomless Belly Button (Fantagraphics, $29.99) oscillate between awkwardness and intimacy, as each member of the family pushes for autonomy and yearns for roots. Shaw’s deceptively simple illustrative shorthand draws a stark contrast to the emotional depth of the story.