“Refresh Refresh” by Danica Novgorodoff, Benjamin Percy and James Ponsoldt

“Refresh Refresh” is another distinctly mature graphic novel by the edgy First Second Press. It tells the story of three young men awaiting their fathers’ return from the Iraq & Afghanistan wars. The teen boys live in a town where everyone knows someone in the military, and while that should be comforting, the reality in this book is just the opposite. The bullying between the teens is brutal. Even friends engage in daily slugfests – presumably to blow off steam. Like many graphic novels, I felt like the characters weren’t as fully developed as they should have been and the lack of a moral compass for the young men is typical in these kinds of stories, which have a flat, negative impact on me. That being said, the “elements” of living with a parent serving overseas are clear and well-done. The conflicting emotions, the sense of loss, the feeling of being unmoored ... all ring true. The violence, language and adult scenarios are realistic, I think, for kids who feel abandoned by parents. The “Refresh Refresh” title emphasizes their conflict – no matter what they say and how they act, the truth is that their world lives and dies during those few moments each night when they check their email, hoping more than anything for a brief word or two. The events at the end of the book are hugely unrealistic and left me with a sense of cop-out. The great redeemer in the climax is the artwork, which takes a dramatic turn and feels more compelling than the actual story. High School readers will find empathy here for the realities of military families during war-time, and fans of “Fight Club” will be suitably entertained.