Heaven, West Virginia
Some readers erroneously believe that adult graphic novels should have sophisticated art, particularly in a day and age where art can 
be easily generated through a computer. “Sophisticated” means, in this case, the artwork has aspects like realistic looking human faces, shading, and color gradation that makes the book look more like a collection of photographs than anything drawn by a human being. It’s important to remember that “graphic novel” is a medium rather than a genre, and a medium can convey a variety of different ideas. For example, Heaven, West Virginia, written and illustrated by Ravi Teixeira, doesn’t need chiseled jawlines or a computer-generated color palette to tell an emotionally wrought story about coming home to find oneself.
The book follows Lamont, a man who has come home to Heaven, West Virginia to stay with his aunt while dealing with the passing of his homophobic father, a religious man who liked to share his bigotry from the pulpit. Learning tea making from his aunt provides a measure of peace, along with his conversations with handsome cowboy Coyote. Threatening to shatter that peach is a monster lurking in the woods, a monster whose eyes glow red and whose teeth are perfect for rending flesh. Lamont sees this creature and knows that it wants to devour him. Unfortunately, Lamont cannot run from this beast. He must ultimately face this monster as well as his own identity.
Teixeira’s seemingly supernatural evil evokes the folk horror traditions of something evil lurking in the woods, but it gets much more mileage in the readers’ minds thanks to his use of symbolism. For Lamont, as for many LGBTQ + individuals from a less than welcoming family, coming home often reawakens some very real traumas as fearsome and brutal as anything with teeth made to tear flesh. However, Teixeira’s story is not all doom and gloom because his Appalachian home provides healing. They demonstrate this thanks to medicinal tea recipes, with ingredients provided by Appalachian soil, interspersed throughout the book’s various chapters. This use of recipes, along with the beast in the woods, also demonstrates Teixeira’s skill with symbolism.
And those symbols are beautifully rendered, even if you can’t see the individual hairs on the beast stalking the woods. Teixeira’s style utilized blocky lines, flat surfaces, and simple colors, but they do a great deal with them. The artwork is clear and vibrant while the characters are still expressive, despite not seeing every wrinkle. Teixeira’s art style ultimately serves the story, especially as it seems to evoke images of Appalachian folk art.
For those who actually inform you of their beliefs that simple art work cannot be considered “sophisticated,” you can give them examples like Art Speigelman’s Maus and this book. The book’s uncomplicated beauty and rustic charm make it perfect for librarians in rural areas like Appalachia, as well as for librarians looking for well-told LGBTQ+ stories.
Heaven, West Virginia
By Ravi Teixeira
Oni Press, 2025
ISBN: 9781637158746
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+)
Creator Representation: Trans ,
Character Representation: African-American,
