A GRAPHIC NOVEL ABOUT LOSS, HOPE AND FAITH; BONDS THAT ARE TESTED WHEN THE PATHS OF TWO BOYHOOD FRIENDS DIVERGE. The term 'graphic novel' is now used as shorthand to describe any fat comic book, whether it's a collection of short stories, journalism, autobiography, or history, but Carol Swain's work is among that minority of work published under the rubric 'graphic novel' that in fact closely approximates the visual equivalent of mainstream fiction. Swain has been publishing comics since the mid-'80s, but this is not only her second book, but her first since 1995 and the first to receive proper distribution to the book trade. Foodboy is about loss and hope, friendship, and faith, bonds that are tested when the paths of two boyhood friends diverge. Garth --the Foodboy of the title--and Ross live in the small Welsh village of Llanparc, where they have grown up together, been baptized together, skipped Sunday School together. The attempt of a visiting troupe of Evangelists to convert the locals seems to trigger in Ross a physical and spiritual retreat 'into wilderness.' Gareth remains loyal to his friend, leaving food out for him, even when it becomes apparent that Ross is becoming increasingly feral. At that point we leave the story, never quite certain of just how wild he has become. (Her previous graphic novel, Invasion of the Mind Sappers, was set in a similar locale, and featured the Ross character in a small role.) Foodboy is drawn in Swain's trademark style of exquisite panel compositions in which the characters and landscapes embody the twin thematic poles of her work--anomie and empathy, pathos and passivity.