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brisingr's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 This time, I'm actually going with the goodreads rating system: this graphic novel was okay. Stigmata is a tale of despair and hope, happiness and cruelness, and the fault lies in me and the huge expectations I built up around this book.
I loved the art style! Simple, minimal, a little bit weird but most definetely haunting. It added to the story a lot; having it in black and white, with the raw lines and almost unfinished, hurried look - it makes the art just like the life depicted in the story. This is where problems arise: I haven't felt particulalry drawn to the story in the beggining and by the end I remained thoroughly unimpressed. I did not feel necessary the religious part in there; I believe there are many, different ways to re-find yourself, that might have spoken to an universal area of readers, you know? It kind of already feels a little bit like lazy work on a creator's part to just... put it all on god's back.
I loved the art style! Simple, minimal, a little bit weird but most definetely haunting. It added to the story a lot; having it in black and white, with the raw lines and almost unfinished, hurried look - it makes the art just like the life depicted in the story. This is where problems arise: I haven't felt particulalry drawn to the story in the beggining and by the end I remained thoroughly unimpressed. I did not feel necessary the religious part in there; I believe there are many, different ways to re-find yourself, that might have spoken to an universal area of readers, you know? It kind of already feels a little bit like lazy work on a creator's part to just... put it all on god's back.
robin_dh's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
dorinlazar's review against another edition
2.0
Ca și obiect, ediția aceasta de Stigmata e excelentă. Ce e între coperți, însă, e jalnic.
Povestea unui bețiv care se trezește cu niște răni la mâini care nu se mai închid, și care pornește într-o poveste în care se căsătorește cu cineva și face pe sfântul și după aceea merge la o mănăstire, unde își revine cu greu și...
Serios, zisă scurt, povestea pare mult mai bună decât e. Desenele sunt groaznice - niște mâzgălituri inestetice care uneori au sens, uneori nu. Povestea e destul de slabă - genul de efort pe care îl face un ateu în a zice o povestire legată de divinitate. Și singurul motiv pentru care cartea asta primește două stele e prezentarea fizică. Ca și obiect, ediția aceasta e excelentă.
Povestea unui bețiv care se trezește cu niște răni la mâini care nu se mai închid, și care pornește într-o poveste în care se căsătorește cu cineva și face pe sfântul și după aceea merge la o mănăstire, unde își revine cu greu și...
Serios, zisă scurt, povestea pare mult mai bună decât e. Desenele sunt groaznice - niște mâzgălituri inestetice care uneori au sens, uneori nu. Povestea e destul de slabă - genul de efort pe care îl face un ateu în a zice o povestire legată de divinitate. Și singurul motiv pentru care cartea asta primește două stele e prezentarea fizică. Ca și obiect, ediția aceasta e excelentă.
roxanamalinachirila's review against another edition
2.0
I wish I were more impressed by this - I would like to be, but somehow I can't stop myself from asking questions.
A drunkard has a weird dream and wakes up with stigmata on his hands. He bleeds and he goes to the hospital, where doctors see his wounds don't close, but consider them self-inflicted. The people around his home see him as some sort of saint and nearly worship him, but he refuses to consider himself such and continues to drink his life away. At this point in the book, I thought the idea was interesting and not without depth. What follows was underwhelming, though.
Then his house burns down and he goes off to look for his one remaining family member, his uncle who works in a traveling fair. When he gets there, he finds out the uncle is in jail, but he meets a lovely woman, Lorena, falls in love, and marries her. His stigmata start going away.
Anyway, he goes from tragedy to tragedy (Lorena dies in a flood), and he ends up in a madhouse where nuns are in charge. He spends some time in silence, catatonic, before coming back to life and helping around.
I guess you can say he develops as a character, but some things are never quite resolved:
- why does he get the stigmata in the first place?
- if they're there as a fluke, and their purpose is to change him, why do they go away for a while?
- if they go away for a while because he doesn't act like a holy man at all, why were they there in the first place?
- why is he followed around by tragedy?
- if that tragedy is there to try him, why does Lorena have to die? (in other words, why is God such a little shit?)
- if his stigmata really are weird even by medical standards, why do doctors send him away anyway?
Add to this the fact that the whole thing seemed a bit sketchy and underdeveloped, and I'm just... meh.
A drunkard has a weird dream and wakes up with stigmata on his hands. He bleeds and he goes to the hospital, where doctors see his wounds don't close, but consider them self-inflicted. The people around his home see him as some sort of saint and nearly worship him, but he refuses to consider himself such and continues to drink his life away. At this point in the book, I thought the idea was interesting and not without depth. What follows was underwhelming, though.
Then his house burns down and he goes off to look for his one remaining family member, his uncle who works in a traveling fair. When he gets there, he finds out the uncle is in jail, but he meets a lovely woman, Lorena, falls in love, and marries her. His stigmata start going away.
Anyway, he goes from tragedy to tragedy (Lorena dies in a flood), and he ends up in a madhouse where nuns are in charge. He spends some time in silence, catatonic, before coming back to life and helping around.
I guess you can say he develops as a character, but some things are never quite resolved:
- why does he get the stigmata in the first place?
- if they're there as a fluke, and their purpose is to change him, why do they go away for a while?
- if they go away for a while because he doesn't act like a holy man at all, why were they there in the first place?
- why is he followed around by tragedy?
- if that tragedy is there to try him, why does Lorena have to die? (in other words, why is God such a little shit?)
- if his stigmata really are weird even by medical standards, why do doctors send him away anyway?
Add to this the fact that the whole thing seemed a bit sketchy and underdeveloped, and I'm just... meh.
chelseamartinez's review against another edition
3.0
An Italian man with mysterious stigmata tries to find his place in the world; it doesn't really work. The hectic illustration really meshes well with this painful story.
sarah2438's review against another edition
1.0
Maybe I didn't totally get it, but I know I didn't like it. I did not like the art style, which seemed to be going intentionally for a gritty, difficult-to-decipher look and just ended up looking like scribbles of dirty old men. I don't think I totally understood the plot, but I didn't like what I did understand. And I definitely did not like how the male writers used the *very* graphic and violent SA of a woman to get pity of the male main character and how much worse it made *his* life. It had a "wow things were going so good for him and now his luck has turned" vibe. Including graphic SA in a book only to illustrate the hardships it has on a partner (oh I'm so sorry, your wife became very religious? she wears thick pajamas to bed? poor baby) and giving ZERO agency or thought to the woman is disgusting. This will be an unhaul for me. Now if only I could erase the r@pe doodles from my brain...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
noahkoala's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This comic fascinated me with its unique and bold linework as well as its mix of spiritual themes. A striking tale of sin, horrible evils, redemption and the meaning of life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual violence