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xterminal's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
saidtheraina's review
2.0
A man's father dies and in the estate is a taxidermied human being. This touches on some interesting phenomena - racism, insurance sales, family relationships, bratty children, transcendant experimentation, African politics... A lot of interesting stuff, but it left me wanting more. None of these issues are really delved into to the extent that I wanted them to be. Honestly, the parts I enjoyed the most were the office politics portions, at the insurance company, and at the museum. The family relationships felt hollow, and none of the characters were fleshed out very well. Interesting, but doesn't feel finished.
mschlat's review
3.0
Liked it more than I expected (a fair number of good characterizations), but I prefer Nick Bertozzi's solo work.
bluenicorn's review
3.0
It was good. Hoped for more with a Stephen Colbert cover blurb, but it was still alright.
lucyblack's review
2.0
It was funny but it wasn't 'laugh out loud' funny. It was clever but it wasn't 'oh no they didn't' clever. It was well drawn but not 'this is art' well drawn. I could go on. It was ok.
norrin2's review
4.0
In just 124 pages this graphic novel manages to touch on race relations, parenthood, siblings, marriage, international diplomacy (and the lack of it ), forgiveness, and what it means to be human. Somehow it also manages to be pretty darn funny too.
middlekmissie's review
5.0
I laughed out loud at least 12 times reading this book--and it's not very long. The writer is a Colbert Report writer, so if you like Colbert, The Daily Show, or anything of that uncomfortably-funny genre, you'll like this graphic novel. Also, it involves a stuffed-and-mounted African mummy. How many books can you say that about?
cuocuo's review
4.0
What would happen if you turned Little Miss Sunshine into a graphic novel but instead of a dead grandpa, there were a dead African of unknown origin.
glitterandtwang's review
3.0
also read in Nov. 2009
Oh no; it's gotten to the point now where I can't remember some of the GNs I've read. This one felt vaguely familiar once I got to the information that the protagonist's brother had trepanned himself. I enjoyed this more in 2016 than 2009, apparently. The sad little oddities shop at the heart of the story appeals to me even more now than it used to.
Oh no; it's gotten to the point now where I can't remember some of the GNs I've read. This one felt vaguely familiar once I got to the information that the protagonist's brother had trepanned himself. I enjoyed this more in 2016 than 2009, apparently. The sad little oddities shop at the heart of the story appeals to me even more now than it used to.
rosseroo's review
3.0
The editors at First Second are pretty consistent at putting out interesting graphic stories, so I try and pick up whatever they publish, regardless of the content. Here, the story is a rather strange take on the theme of sons trying to come to terms with their difficult father. Tim is a middle-aged professional with a wife and kid, leading a regular middle-class life. When his estranged abusive father dies, Tim and his hippy-dippy nomadic brother inherit their father's museum of odd artifacts. One of these is an eerie life-size statue of an African man clad in some kind of pseudo-traditional costume. It used to terrify Tim as a child, but as an adult he wonders if it has historical value, and decides to donate it to a museum.
From here, wacky complications ensue as (A) the true nature of the statue is revealed, and (B) Tim's estranged free-spirit brother shows up to throw a spanner in the works. The story that follows attempts to handle issues of race with a light comic touch, and for the most part is successful. The thread of Tim and his brother trying to reestablish their relationship and come to terms with their dead father tends to veer into more cliched turf. In fact, the whole thing has the feel of a formulaic comedy -- think Paul Rudd or Ben Stiller in the Tim role, with someone like Jack Black playing the brother with a self-trepannation wound. It's all perfectly entertaining as you go, but unlikely to leave much of a last impression.
The artwork is perfectly pitched -- realistic enough to work with the material, but not overly so, with some good sequences into anxiety-induced nightmares. As with all First Second books, the color work is very nice and the production values are top-notch. Overall, worth checking out if it's sitting around, but probably not something to go out of your way to get a hold of.
From here, wacky complications ensue as (A) the true nature of the statue is revealed, and (B) Tim's estranged free-spirit brother shows up to throw a spanner in the works. The story that follows attempts to handle issues of race with a light comic touch, and for the most part is successful. The thread of Tim and his brother trying to reestablish their relationship and come to terms with their dead father tends to veer into more cliched turf. In fact, the whole thing has the feel of a formulaic comedy -- think Paul Rudd or Ben Stiller in the Tim role, with someone like Jack Black playing the brother with a self-trepannation wound. It's all perfectly entertaining as you go, but unlikely to leave much of a last impression.
The artwork is perfectly pitched -- realistic enough to work with the material, but not overly so, with some good sequences into anxiety-induced nightmares. As with all First Second books, the color work is very nice and the production values are top-notch. Overall, worth checking out if it's sitting around, but probably not something to go out of your way to get a hold of.