two more graphic novels

[cornerofmadness]

In The Flood by Ray Fawkes

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Yeah based on the back cover blurbs I have the echo of The Emperor's New Clothes in my head. This was not some surrealistic masterpiece. Hell I'm not even sure what I read and not in a good way. It had a chance to be good but the whiplash nonlinear might even be a dream narrative and an ending that is open to way too much interpretation to just didn't work for me.

This is story of Mike and Clara, husband and wife who are separated by a never ending rain storm...or are they. There are three artistic tricks at play here.
1. nothing but their hands as someone literally talks about tricks and the other is obviously bored with it (my take away, Clara is not as invested in this marriage as he is)
2. Clara who seems trapped onstage, in a sort of a 40s-50s era styled night club performing constantly even when she doesn't want to be
3. Mike who is waiting in their home that he built her high in the hills in a forest but the rain is constantly raising the water levels making the home slowly but surely unlivable. He will not leave because she promised to return and he has to be there for her.

What was neat was the use of color (which is about the only thing I liked about the art) Clara is done in reds and other warm colors. Mike is done in all cold blues and black while the hands are a neutral earth tone and that was rather brilliant.

I finished this because it was short otherwise I probably would have bailed. My thoughts on this are this was the dying dreams of both of them, Clara committing suicide and Mike following her to be reunited in the afterlife



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The Tale of the Outcasts, Vol. 1 by Makoto Hoshino

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Wisteria, an orphaned girl in Dickensian England has one of the hardest luck stories you're going to find. Her older brother disappeared after their parents died. The man running her orphanage forces the kids to beg in the streets, beating them when they don't earn enough. He also isn't above selling the kids for nefarious purposes and that's nearly Wisteria's fate when her path crosses Marbas, an immortal demon.

Marbas is both bored and intrigued because most humans cannot see demons and those who can are usually demon hunters. However he can't just help Wisteria because being altruistic kills his kind. She has to pay him. Once the payment is done, he decides to live with her for a while because they're both lonely and she alleviates his boredom. Wisteria needs help to adjust to what she was forced to pay.

It doesn't take long before we learn about Wisteria's brother and the demon hunters show up.

The story has an oddly sweet aspect to it given what happens in it. Wisteria and Marbas are interesting enough for me to want more and the art, as so often the case with manga, is really top notch.



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