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saramarie08's review against another edition
4.0
Read more graphic novel reviews at The Graphic Library.
After the death of his mother, musician Erik travels back home for her funeral and stumbles upon a mystery of her past. Erik enters his mother’s study late at night and finds a ghoulish figure clutching a photograph of a strange musician. The man in the photo captivates him, and he chalks the ghost up to grief. Erik begins to dig into who the musician could be, and his search leads him to the former owner of a jazz club in New York. A room full of mementoes from the club give Erik some clues into the man’s identity, but furthers the mystery of the ghoul who now haunts him.
This story has been lauded as a book that really captures what it’s like to be a musician, but, as a musician, I’m not totally seeing it. There are some great descriptive phrases in the narrative voice, but capturing what it’s like to play music and be lost in what you’re creating through art is pretty difficult. The creepy ghoul and the fact that the musician is named Erik brings me back to The Phantom of the Opera since The Phantom’s real name is Erik, and he definitely haunts musicians with promises of improving their musicianship. The illustrations make use of very ethereal watercolors, which enhances the dark themes of the story. There are a few pages within the story that are beautifully composed with stunning coloring, and others that will seat into your brain and haunt you for days to come.
Image rates his book as Mature. There are some adult scenes, alcohol and drug use, some violence, and horrifying monsters.
Sara’s Rating: 7/10
Suitability Level: Adult
After the death of his mother, musician Erik travels back home for her funeral and stumbles upon a mystery of her past. Erik enters his mother’s study late at night and finds a ghoulish figure clutching a photograph of a strange musician. The man in the photo captivates him, and he chalks the ghost up to grief. Erik begins to dig into who the musician could be, and his search leads him to the former owner of a jazz club in New York. A room full of mementoes from the club give Erik some clues into the man’s identity, but furthers the mystery of the ghoul who now haunts him.
This story has been lauded as a book that really captures what it’s like to be a musician, but, as a musician, I’m not totally seeing it. There are some great descriptive phrases in the narrative voice, but capturing what it’s like to play music and be lost in what you’re creating through art is pretty difficult. The creepy ghoul and the fact that the musician is named Erik brings me back to The Phantom of the Opera since The Phantom’s real name is Erik, and he definitely haunts musicians with promises of improving their musicianship. The illustrations make use of very ethereal watercolors, which enhances the dark themes of the story. There are a few pages within the story that are beautifully composed with stunning coloring, and others that will seat into your brain and haunt you for days to come.
Image rates his book as Mature. There are some adult scenes, alcohol and drug use, some violence, and horrifying monsters.
Sara’s Rating: 7/10
Suitability Level: Adult
blackmetalblackheart's review
3.5
The artwork of Blue in Green is really cool; a kind of scratchy, washed out look similar to Ben Templesmith. It works perfect as the aesthetic of a book focused on art. The story is centered around family and the lengths some will go to follow their passions. It is familiar, but told with a deft hand. I think the horror elements threw me off a little. They didn't need to be there to tell this story. If it is going to be there, I felt like there should be more of it. Either way, this is a beautiful book to look at and there is a lot of talent within these pages.
jwmcoaching's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this well enough but didn't love it. The drawings fit well with the plot but I wasn't the biggest fan of them. They were a little too blurry and kind of a mess at times. The story seemed a little too overly familiar...maybe too much Robert Johnson. The whole thing ended rather abruptly as well. The font served a purpose with its haunted look but it was hard to decipher at times. The "mystery" didn't seem to have that much depth to it either...it seemed rather simplistic. I don't really even know why that three star rating is at the top of the review but there must be something I liked about it.
graypeape's review against another edition
5.0
I'll do the easy part first- the art. The art by Anand RK was freakin' amazing, y'all. Vibrant and moody and just gorgeous. I can't imagine anything better for the story, it was perfect.
Speaking of the story....I enjoyed it. It sucked me in and pulled me under, and I couldn't put it down till I was done. This is a slow burn, supernatural story (I hesitate to call it horror, but it definitely has the elements), and you're not going to find lots of action and gore here, just psychological twistiness, but I like that sort of thing. You have a musician who has been good all his life, never great, a weekend music teacher, who goes home for his mother's funeral. He hooks up with his high school flame, fights with his sister over family issues, and sees a mysterious man in his mother's parlor in the middle of the night, who he's not sure was real or a dream. He finds a photograph in his mother's things, of a musician he doesn't recognize, and goes on a quest to find out who the man is. What he finds is and isn't what he's always dreamed of. This was creepy and spooky, with lots of moodiness, and some feels thrown in for good measure. It totally worked for me.
Speaking of the story....I enjoyed it. It sucked me in and pulled me under, and I couldn't put it down till I was done. This is a slow burn, supernatural story (I hesitate to call it horror, but it definitely has the elements), and you're not going to find lots of action and gore here, just psychological twistiness, but I like that sort of thing. You have a musician who has been good all his life, never great, a weekend music teacher, who goes home for his mother's funeral. He hooks up with his high school flame, fights with his sister over family issues, and sees a mysterious man in his mother's parlor in the middle of the night, who he's not sure was real or a dream. He finds a photograph in his mother's things, of a musician he doesn't recognize, and goes on a quest to find out who the man is. What he finds is and isn't what he's always dreamed of. This was creepy and spooky, with lots of moodiness, and some feels thrown in for good measure. It totally worked for me.
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