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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Mermaid boobies
Captain Twain and his steamboat "Lorelei" cruise up and down the Hudson River in the 1880s. And then: a mermaid. Tangly, dark and sad, this is a work I definitely wish I could claim as my own creation - this guy beat me to my mermaid-romance writing ambitions, and did a way more interesting and compelling job.
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book has an excellent use of shape language, use of black/white to visually illustrate things, and much more. I really loved how there was so much thought put into it regarding race/class/masculinity and how the characters embody these qualities. I should've honestly kept a journal, and I had a really nice time bouncing ideas off with my friend.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual content
I picked up Sailor Twain after a fellow Cannonballer recommended it. And while I'm glad that I read it, I did have some problems with it (problems that are almost certainly entirely personal).
Sailor Twain is a graphic novel about a man who finds a mermaid in the Hudson river (which can pretty much be surmised from its subtitle: The Mermaid in the Hudson). But this isn't your standard beautiful and noble pop culture mermaid, of the type first popularized by Hans Christian Anderson a hundred years ago. This mermaid is equal parts wonder and terror, an old fashioned siren whose song means death (of a sort). This mermaid is a monster (albeit a relatable monster with a great backstory).
Captain Elijah Twain is our protagonist, and he lives aboard the Lorelei, a steamboat that travels up and down the Hudson. Strange happenings are afoot aboard the Lorelei after its first owner begins acting strangely and then disappears. Then his brother, Lafayette, too begins acting in a very peculiar manner -- refusing to leave the ship, bedding every woman who comes in walking distance of him, and corresponding with the famous author Beaverton, whose latest bestselling book explores instances of the fantastic in their very own New York, including a chapter on mermaids. And then amidst all this, Twain finds said mermaid injured and clinging to life, and nurses her back to health. From there, Twain is drawn little by little into a world full of mystical, scary secrets, and his compassion for the mermaid quickly turns to obsession.
The rest of the story unfolds itself in a tangle of conflicted motives: the mermaid's, Twain's, and Lafayette's. Unfortunately, this is where things fell apart for me. Up until the climax, the story had proved to be enjoyable and creepy, especially Siegel's artwork, which puts its emphasis in chilling places (over-large eyes, out of focus panels, mist and fog) and with everything being in black and white, the whole thing felt a little bit less cartoony than it might have otherwise. It was kind of great. But then -- and again, this might just be my issue -- but I honestly had no idea what was happening for the last thirty pages or so. Siegel's employment of dialogue and imagery were not enough for me to quite literally comprehend what was happening in the story. I read the ending four times and I still have no idea what actually happened or what I was supposed to get out of it. Even after a quick trip to Wikipedia shed some light on it, I was still unable to get any true understanding out of it. And you guys, I'm not bragging here when I say that I am damn good at reading comprehension. It is like my #1 skill. I got an 800 on my verbal SAT score back before they changed everything (for you non-US readers, 800 used to be a perfect score, but now it's 1600). And the ending to this book made me feel stupid and helpless, and I don't like feeling stupid and helpless.
Anyway, I'm going to suggest that people check this book out solely so you can come back here and tell me what was up with the ending, because help. I think I get it? But no. I don't.
Sailor Twain is a graphic novel about a man who finds a mermaid in the Hudson river (which can pretty much be surmised from its subtitle: The Mermaid in the Hudson). But this isn't your standard beautiful and noble pop culture mermaid, of the type first popularized by Hans Christian Anderson a hundred years ago. This mermaid is equal parts wonder and terror, an old fashioned siren whose song means death (of a sort). This mermaid is a monster (albeit a relatable monster with a great backstory).
Captain Elijah Twain is our protagonist, and he lives aboard the Lorelei, a steamboat that travels up and down the Hudson. Strange happenings are afoot aboard the Lorelei after its first owner begins acting strangely and then disappears. Then his brother, Lafayette, too begins acting in a very peculiar manner -- refusing to leave the ship, bedding every woman who comes in walking distance of him, and corresponding with the famous author Beaverton, whose latest bestselling book explores instances of the fantastic in their very own New York, including a chapter on mermaids. And then amidst all this, Twain finds said mermaid injured and clinging to life, and nurses her back to health. From there, Twain is drawn little by little into a world full of mystical, scary secrets, and his compassion for the mermaid quickly turns to obsession.
The rest of the story unfolds itself in a tangle of conflicted motives: the mermaid's, Twain's, and Lafayette's. Unfortunately, this is where things fell apart for me. Up until the climax, the story had proved to be enjoyable and creepy, especially Siegel's artwork, which puts its emphasis in chilling places (over-large eyes, out of focus panels, mist and fog) and with everything being in black and white, the whole thing felt a little bit less cartoony than it might have otherwise. It was kind of great. But then -- and again, this might just be my issue -- but I honestly had no idea what was happening for the last thirty pages or so. Siegel's employment of dialogue and imagery were not enough for me to quite literally comprehend what was happening in the story. I read the ending four times and I still have no idea what actually happened or what I was supposed to get out of it. Even after a quick trip to Wikipedia shed some light on it, I was still unable to get any true understanding out of it. And you guys, I'm not bragging here when I say that I am damn good at reading comprehension. It is like my #1 skill. I got an 800 on my verbal SAT score back before they changed everything (for you non-US readers, 800 used to be a perfect score, but now it's 1600). And the ending to this book made me feel stupid and helpless, and I don't like feeling stupid and helpless.
Anyway, I'm going to suggest that people check this book out solely so you can come back here and tell me what was up with the ending, because help. I think I get it? But no. I don't.
Ambitious and beautifully rendered in charcoals, and though the story provides some intriguing mysteries that keep the reader turning the page, the ending itself felt a little anticlimactic and the layout made the action slightly hard to follow (just toward the end).
adventurous
dark
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Pretty interesting story, certainly a different kind of twist on mermaids and sirens (far as I know). Sometimes the art felt too cartoony, but the black and white sets a far different tone than you might expect. Some gorgeous work in that regard, and some really great backgrounds too. Ending wasn't expected at all either.
A steamboat captain saves an injured mermaid, but her situation isn't as innocent as it seems, and the boat's owner's promiscuity is a front for a much more complex secret.
What a wasted set-up!
Aside from this beautiful imprint under the dust jacket, I didn't like much about this book. The art was such a mixed bag. The main character looked like a muppet, and it was very off-putting considering the talent displayed in other aspects.
The story kinda sucked until around Page 300, but then it totally flubbed the ending. Despite how horny the book is, I never felt like the main character had feelings towards the mermaid or that he was anything other than supportive of his wife until he suddenly did and was? Once he followed the mermaid underwater, I was really interested, but then everything ended very quickly, and the coda was unnecessarily vague.
There are glimpses of good art and an fascinating story, but there was just too much mundanity in the beginning and an unsatisfying conclusion.
What a wasted set-up!
Aside from this beautiful imprint under the dust jacket, I didn't like much about this book. The art was such a mixed bag. The main character looked like a muppet, and it was very off-putting considering the talent displayed in other aspects.
The story kinda sucked until around Page 300, but then it totally flubbed the ending. Despite how horny the book is, I never felt like the main character had feelings towards the mermaid or that he was anything other than supportive of his wife until he suddenly did and was? Once he followed the mermaid underwater, I was really interested, but then everything ended very quickly, and the coda was unnecessarily vague.
There are glimpses of good art and an fascinating story, but there was just too much mundanity in the beginning and an unsatisfying conclusion.