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saidtheraina's review against another edition
2.0
Kim Deitch has a truly twisted imagination. I enjoyed this early depiction of the history of the Waldo character (who appears in all of his books that I've read). I like the way he warps history and pushes the limits of believability. Also the integration of cartooning history.
violetturtledove's review
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I don't think there's anything like a Kim Deitch book. You finish it with your head spinning, and feeling nostalgic for a world you've never actually lived in.
The illustration is charming, whimsical, sometimes simple and at other times there is so much detail packed into a page you could spend ages looking at it if you weren't so eager to get on with the story. Either way, there will be more details your spot on a re-read.
As usual the story has just enough of a real world hook for it to feel just within reach of reality. I know all writers are storytellers, but Deitch's work feels like listening to an uncle tell tall tales, some of the elements are outlandish but there's just enough truth for you to never quite know how much your leg is being pulled.
The illustration is charming, whimsical, sometimes simple and at other times there is so much detail packed into a page you could spend ages looking at it if you weren't so eager to get on with the story. Either way, there will be more details your spot on a re-read.
As usual the story has just enough of a real world hook for it to feel just within reach of reality. I know all writers are storytellers, but Deitch's work feels like listening to an uncle tell tall tales, some of the elements are outlandish but there's just enough truth for you to never quite know how much your leg is being pulled.
manadabomb's review against another edition
3.0
Deja vu because I've seen this before. Most likely in a Raw comic.
Blvd shows the progress, or decline, of Mishkin, the creator of Waldo the cat. Waldo is Mishkin's hallucination and comes to life through cartoons. Mishkin eventually loses it and everyone gets old and travels down the broken dreams boulevard. sad and crazy.
It's a good graphic novel. I just had to give it back to the library before writing this so I can't get too specific. Sorry!
Blvd shows the progress, or decline, of Mishkin, the creator of Waldo the cat. Waldo is Mishkin's hallucination and comes to life through cartoons. Mishkin eventually loses it and everyone gets old and travels down the broken dreams boulevard. sad and crazy.
It's a good graphic novel. I just had to give it back to the library before writing this so I can't get too specific. Sorry!
david_rhee's review against another edition
3.0
This one was sitting on my shelf for quite a while. I always told myself it'll be there for me when I hit a bad slump. I hit several of those slumps before I finally picked it up. I was surprised at how vivid the artwork was even without the slightest splash of color, but I couldn't help thinking it was too much of the same. Just shock, shock, and more shock. I want a graphic novel to affect me in a range of ways, for details see Jimmy Corrigan or Blankets, and this just didn't do it.
nwhyte's review
http://nhw.livejournal.com/551536.html[return][return]To be honest, after I'd read the first quarter, I thought I was probably going to have to write this up as a dud. Deitch's style is very close to Robert Crumb's; I find it crowded and grotesque, I had difficulty telling the difference between some of the characters, and it all seemed to be about the difficult life of the graphics artist (though specifically here on animated films rather than dead tree comics).[return][return]But then I started reading the next section, and suddenly realised that this was a rich, multi-layered narrative, where the same events were told over again from different points of view, and that was in fact saying much more about human relationships than about the comics writer's lonely life. I put it down with difficulty last night, half way through; then read it to the end this evening and then went back to the start to pick up things I had missed first time round. I still don't much like the drawing style, but am prepared to put that aside for the story.[return][return]What's it about? Well, on one level it's about the Mishkin family, Ted Mishkin being the graphic ilustrator who is the central character, and their various professional acquaintances; but on another, we have the cryptic figure of Waldo The Cat, visible only to Ted (and later to his nephew Nathan) and in a sense his Muse, but also the star of the cartoons that he writes successfully. There's also a certain amount of history of the industry mixed in - I assume that the depiction of vaudeville cinematography in 1910 is more or less accurate, and the skewering of Walt Disney in person is a brief delight. An animated excerpt (with no spoilers for the rest of the plot) can be found here. On balance I would recommend this, but it makes you work harder than I sometimes like to do.
jonh's review
4.0
Man, what a trip. A freaky, freaky terrifying trip.
I love anything doing with turn-of-the-century animation, and this book delivers on the silent terror of black and white films.
Ugh. SO, SO GOOD.
I love anything doing with turn-of-the-century animation, and this book delivers on the silent terror of black and white films.
Ugh. SO, SO GOOD.
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