6th Canadian challenge - 13th review

The reviews are sort of out of order at the moment, but I should be catching up soon.

I'm just going to start off with

SPOILERS AHEAD

before I get into the review of Underwater Welder by Jeff Lemire.  This is a graphic novel (actually the second I've reviewed).  There is no way to escape the fact that this was structured like a Twilight Zone episode, and the introduction by Damon Lindelof drives home the point even more forcefully.  However, it is a crappy TZ episode, maybe from season 3 or 4.  Most of the Amazon reviewers are positive, but I am going to side with the lone negative reviewer who feels it is too drawn out, we don't care about the characters at all, and the art is scraggly and ugly. 

The plot is paper-thin.  This man has returned to Nova Scotia where his father died in a diving accident.  He is now a diver himself and surprise, surprise, comes across a watch that triggers all these flashbacks to his childhood.  Then, temporarily abandoning his very pregnant wife, he sneaks back to dive again and he actually grabs the watch.  This forces him into a parallel universe where he is the only one alive.  He even drives round and round and can't leave Tigg's Bay (talk about ripping off TZ!).  Finally, he sees that he is becoming his father, then he has a conversation with the ghost of his father.  And then he is saved by another diver and re-enters the real world (still holding the watch) and soon goes home to gaze peacefully at his new-born baby. 

I'm not even sure what the point is, other than perhaps you should make peace with your family (even if they are basically no-good drunks who abandon you at the hockey rink) or you won't have the peace of mind to start your own family.  I mean really -- forgiveness for everyone?  I'm with Prudie (over at Slate.com), that I am not for forgiveness/acceptance in all circumstances, as some Christians would urge.  I'm glad I've cut certain people out of my life.  And related to that, there are some things that people have done to me that I will never forgive.  I'd guess this took less than an hour for me to read, but I still would kind of like that time back.  Oh well.