The graphic novels of Dash Shaw (Los Angeles, 1983) can intimidate readers at first glance. In the case ofBottomless navel (Apa Apa, 2010), the family chronicle that launched the career of this essential author of the latest generation of American independent comics, with its hefty 720 pages, some packed with vignettes. The page count drops to a more reasonable 480. Everything overwhelms (Apa Apa / Blackie Books), his latest work, where the challenge is to confront an unusual structure in the form of a Russian doll that intertwines lives and adds layers and layers to the narrative without the complexity ever hindering the reading.