3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man by Matt Kindt
Posted: June 24, 2020 Filed under: Books, Comic | Tags: Books, Comic, English, Matt Kindt Leave a comment
Matt Kindt’s short and very poetic story of a modern life Gulliver, a fictitious gentle ever-growing giant lost in the post-war 50s, 60s and the 70s in the US is very nostalgic, melancholic and even somewhat sad. A tale of three women – his single mother, widow of a WWII vet, his wife, shrinking and diminishing by the day, locked in a tower of glass and steel, and his daughter who grew fatherless – all of whom eventually lost him, gave up on his deformity – or rather, they were finding ways of coping with it, which included, inter alia parting ways.
Beautifully scripted and drawn, it requires a certain slow-food like approach, savoring it bit by bit – otherwise you speed though those bare 200 pages, chew on them and digest, and zas, the story (well, the third story) ends. Don’t rush.
Индейское лето Мило Манара и Уго Пратта
Posted: June 15, 2020 Filed under: Books, Comic | Tags: Books, Comic, Hugo Pratt, Milo Manara, Russian Leave a comment
Краткая и немного пустая книга от Мило Манара и Уго Пратта, жестокое повествование о резне поселенцев и индейцев в 16 веке, о промискуитете и инцесте, о странной жестокости во времена ранних колонизаторов Америки. The story of Scarlett Letter, адаптированная и сокращённая.
Типический итальянский комикс из 80-х – несмотря на легкую эротику, как-то без особых восторгов.
Akira volume 1: Tetsuo by Katsuhiro Otomo
Posted: June 15, 2020 Filed under: Books, Comic | Tags: Books, Comic, Katsuhiro Otomo, Manga, Russian Leave a comment
Katsuhiro Otomo’s volume 1 of Akira series is all about action and adventure. Not really something that I look for in comic books and manga, but it is worthwhile to flip though such classic pieces of the genre every once in a while.
My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
Posted: May 4, 2019 Filed under: Books, Comic | Tags: Books, Comic, Crime Fiction, Ed Brubaker, English, Sean Phillips Leave a comment
A short new graphic novel by the duo of Brubaker and Phillips falls in the tracks of their well known Criminal series, it’s is indeed another short noir story. A wrong man meets a wrong woman. What makes it different is the combination of striking blue and yellow colors, more shameless and alluring than I would expect.
A brief easy read.
Blankets by Craig Thompson
Posted: October 6, 2018 Filed under: Comic, Fiction | Tags: Books, Comic, Craig Thompson, English Leave a comment
An honest and somewhat clumsy autobiographical graphic novel by Craig Thompson, his first major success, a thick 9-part book about growing up in snowy rural Minnesota, about young boy’s religious acceptance, god fearing reverence, affection, love, and subsequent denial of god, and on finally moving on.
While Blankets is a critically acclaimed masterpiece of modern comic book storytelling, I remain a much bigger fan of Thompson’s next story called Habibi, a much harsher tale of love, poverty, almost medieval violence and bigotry. To me, Blankets vs Habibi is a good US indie flick vs a major groundbreaking Scorsese biopic.
Опус Сатоси Кона
Posted: March 11, 2018 Filed under: Books, Comic | Tags: Books, Comic, Manga, Russian, Satoshi Kon Leave a comment
Неплохая мета-манга, матрешка от создателя аниме Паприка Сатоси Кона, a nesting doll inside a nesting doll inside a nesting doll. Здесь нет, конечно, той глубины и накала повествования, как у классиков жанра типа Осаму Тезука – но, в целом, весьма и весьма ничего.
Присмотрюсь к другим книгам издательства Alt-Graph, которое взвалило на себе нерентабельное бремя печатать мангу. Хм
Habibi by Craig Thompson
Posted: August 5, 2017 Filed under: Books, Comic | Tags: Books, Comic, Craig Thompson, English Leave a comment
An utterly moving yet harsh, cruel and absolutely unexpected graphic novel by Craig Thompson, a much praised comic book artist whose earlier novel Blankets I conveniently missed and now will catch up for sure.
Despite the fact that its almost 700 pages are full of gruesome violence, horrendous child abuse, victimization of women, lust for the underaged, slavery, female torture and executions, self-mutilation, pain and agony, Habibi is but a precious gem. A story of love that goes beyond hardship, beyond pain and suffering, beyond hatred and loss of manhood, beyond the will of cruel rulers and the deeds of cruel men.
It's a roller coaster of Thompson's vivid imagination and no less disturbing imagery, married and intertwined with quotes, fables and passages from the Bible and the Quran.
One of a kind. A brilliant piece of storytelling.
The Nobody by Jeff Lemire
Posted: June 26, 2017 Filed under: Books, Comic | Tags: Books, Comic, English, Jeff Lemire Leave a comment
A short small town story about a sad and lonely invisible man, a botched experiment, a typical mad scientist fiasco, a lineman roaming snowy streets and a local teenage girl growing up and becoming friends with the fellow.
Beautiful art by Jeff Lemire, as always – but overall, that's just a trifle, which lacks intensity and depth of Lemire's other graphic novels, especially Essex County.
30 minutes and done.
This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
Posted: May 14, 2017 Filed under: Books, Comic | Tags: Books, Comic, English, Jillian Tamaki, Mariko Tamaki Leave a comment
A brilliant meditative growing up story, written by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by her cousen Jillian.
Soft, gentle, developing slowly around feelings rather than actions, it's like a short long-form prose, повесть in Russian literary terms. A girl feels awkward, in doubt, happy, sad, light-hearted, in love, naw, she has a crush, jealous, disappointed, snappy, mean.
Good book, all in all. A perfect read on a bench in park, when the sun is finally heating up the air from this year's cold late spring.
Roughneck by Jeff Lemire
Posted: May 13, 2017 Filed under: Books, Comic | Tags: Books, Comic, English, Jeff Lemire Leave a comment
A beautifully composed and well paced a small town tough guy story written and drawn by Jeff Lemire, high contrast black and white colored in various shades of blue.
A short gripping tale, this one. Artistic merits outweigh complexity of the story 3 to 1. Yet, for me, it was a total page turner for one hour. No wonder some call Lemire the Stephen King of comic books, all thanks to the way he keeps you glued to the pages.
Like 'em when they're like this.
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