Maggie, an NPR journalist, and Adam, a highschool counselor, are like-minded, white, progressive newlyweds on the cusp of beginning a household in Austin, Texas. On their approach dwelling from buying a being pregnant take a look at, they’re accosted by two males with a gun, demanding valuables. Maggie, a Texas native, watches in horror as Adam rapidly palms over their cash. When the muggers demand Maggie’s new marriage ceremony ring, she’s ready to face her floor, however is completely shocked when Adam tearfully pulls the ring off her finger. The lads giggle at him for crying after which depart on scooters with the products.

Adam and Maggie every course of the expertise in utterly other ways. After reporting the incident to the native police and getting dwelling, Maggie busies herself checking all of the door and window locks and weighs her choices for which kitchen utensil is likely to be prime weapon materials. Oblivious to her actions, Adam kicks again on the kitchen desk, apparently relieved, patting himself on the again for a way he deescalated the scenario. He pushes Maggie into taking the being pregnant take a look at, in hopes of discovering a optimistic consequence to the day, however a unfavorable consequence compounds Maggie’s misery. She surprises Adam by inviting mates over late at evening, satisfying her want for security and luxury, however complicated Adam. Their dialog turns to weapons, igniting in Maggie the need to buy one for herself. Adam recoils at this concept, claiming that individuals like them don’t personal weapons. However the very subsequent day, Maggie purchases a gaudy American flag-painted gun behind Adam’s again.

What follows is a narrative of every character frustratingly steamrolling over one another’s wants and feelings as they fall deeper down the rabbit gap of the gun debate. Each character they encounter has a viewpoint to contribute to their journey, shifting their particular person views, and creating battle of their marriage. In the meantime, a subplot builds with David, a troubled highschool senior underneath Adam’s counsel. His psychological well being together with points at dwelling, faculty, with friends, and together with his fledgling movie profession disenfranchise him sufficient to begin him studying a mass shooter’s manifesto and researching weapons. As he inappropriately encroaches on Maggie and Adam’s private lives, the reader is led to imagine he might grow to be harmful.

Billed by left leaning author Dave Cowen as an try to “heal our polarized divide”, he and proper leaning illustrator, Gabriel Wexler, use the characters to begin a dialog exploring the deep divide over gun possession. They contact on many facets of the problem, like mass shootings, self protection, racism, and psychological sickness, though the size of the e-book prevents them from delving deep into any of these subjects. It’s onerous to cowl this divide properly and with sufficient nuance, and though I believe the creators make a superb effort, it’s a tall order. Their conclusion boils all the way down to respect one another and attempt to get alongside, which isn’t stunning, but in addition not very deep given the harms and trauma achieved by weapons in America. They don’t promise solutions although, their purpose is to begin the dialog.

The place it will get clunky is within the dialog. Cowen makes use of transient narration firstly and finish of the e-book, indicating the place the story takes place and when time has handed, however doesn’t prolong it to exposition, which then falls onto the characters to clarify. This causes them to talk to one another in unnatural methods to the purpose the place I initially thought Maggie and Adam have been meant to be caricatures of what conservatives thought a progressive couple is like in non-public. As they encounter mates and colleagues all through the narrative, a few of them will launch into monologues to share gun historical past or philosophy as in the event that they ready a speech, contrasting sharply with the seemingly impromptu conversations they’re drawn in. This isn’t a narrative about two deeply linked folks reconciling their conflicting and shifting views about weapons a lot because it’s an essay on polarization with a graphic novel constructed round it.

Along with awkward dialog, there have been some points with the panel structure. The artwork itself may be very easy, which doesn’t take away from the general story as a result of even with easy traces and shade, character emotion comes by means of clearly. Nevertheless speech bubbles typically cowl character faces and actions in a approach that’s distracting. A handful of panels and even the occasional web page appear so as to add little to the story and possibly might have been minimize or expressed differently. With so many artistic and versatile methods to assemble a graphic novel, I questioned why a panel-by-panel format was chosen to inform this story.

For content material warnings, clearly weapons are outstanding, and whereas nobody is injured by one on display screen, individuals are threatened with them, weapons are fired, and information breaks of a mass capturing. There may be additionally marital battle, transient mentions of divorce, abortion, and suicide. Maggie and Adam typically ignore and cross one another’s boundaries all through the narrative, as much as and together with sexual consent. Even with all of the battle, the e-book does have a peaceable ending, and Maggie and Adam reconcile their variations. Even David’s story has a optimistic consequence.

Regardless that I felt the format was ill-suited for this story and it’s a tricky learn, it’s nonetheless distinctive and may very well be a superb slot in an grownup graphic novel part. I believe it’s a topic we’d like extra critical protection of in graphic novels and manga and I see Ought to We Purchase A Gun? as a primary step in a troublesome ongoing dialog.

Ought to We Purchase A Gun?
By Dave Cowen
Artwork by Gabriel Wexler
Seriocomics, 2025
ISBN: 9798992055092

NFNT Age Suggestion: Grownup (18+)