Starting in Josh’s backyard the story appears small and intimate. Boys fighting for fun as, I guess, boys do. They are enthusiastically beating-up each other but still having fun, a juxtaposition highlighted, at least partially, by the incongruity between the text and images. The boys are bruised and bloody, yet after being knocked out Cody jokes that he is going to Disney. Without the context of the text, the scene is just a brutal fight, with text an unexpected narrative develops.
This is a prominent difference between Refresh, Refresh the short story and the graphic novel. Through the mix of text and image, character, setting, and the overall plot is made more complex. Although it took me about the same time to read the two versions the graphic novel is packed with so many more details and story-lines. As the panels zoom out of Josh’s backyard to their entire town in the opening of the visual version it is seamlessly revealed that everyone’s fathers have left for the war, while the text continues to talk about the boys fighting, doubling the meaning of each panel.
The graphic novel focuses on a group of three friends, referencing on the Marines “rule of threes.” Among this group of young men, the lead protagonist Josh, assumes a shy and innocent role compared to his friends who are both more confident, exemplified by the bar scene. Pictures require and allow a full world of detail so readers are inherently introduced to the protagonist’s surroundings. Subsequently we meet the boys’ families Impact on the younger brother, accepting commands of his brother despite logic, there is no one to teach them right from wrong. Not because their mother doesn’t care but because she has to make up for their father’s missing paycheck. Not only large scale in number of families but inter-generational impact.
Although Josh’s college story-line is brief, only a few panels showing him applying and getting accepted, it makes the dramatic downfall even more impactful. Now Josh has something to lose, college. And he does in fact lose it, instead joining the army and following in his father’s footsteps. This decision is a drastic shift in the novel both in plot and art style. The end of the story is told through blue-toned black and white watercolors. Presumably of a war zone, the panels are ambiguous, depicting a growing smoke cloud, tanks and guns, and three figures.
The author uses header images to simulate chapter breaks between actions and settings. These cut-out images, which are distinguished by half a page of white space, relate to the following section although not always directly.
Overall, the tone is honest. We see these boys grow up in a tragic situation and watch them make tragic decisions as a result. The graphic novel crafts a more well-rounded picture of masculinity from multiple points of view.