The Alcoholic explores the life of Jonathan A. Marked, a hopelessly romantic and failing author plagued by substance abuse problems. The Tenth Anniversary Expanded Edition includes a new prose piece from Ames and behind-the-scenes artwork.
The Alcoholic was the first comics work by Ames, the creator of Bored to Death (HBO) and Blunt Talk (Starz) and the author of The Extra Man and You Were Never Really Here. Originally released by Vertigo, The Alcoholic was widely praised by critics. In the year its initial release, the graphic novel was included on the Amazon Editors’ Choice year-end top ten list (see “Amazon & PW's 10 Best Graphic Novels of 2008”).