Scan barcode
trike's review
4.0
Not my usual form of graphic novel, but I've dipped into this sort of tale before, most notably with Ghost World.
I thoroughly enjoyed the quirkiness of the story as well as the clarity of the art. It seems more and more these days comic book creators feel the need to be all experimental and fancy with their page design. It's refreshing to see art that is unselfconscious. By rendering the story this way, Little makes the art unobtrusive, so it serves the story rather than hindering it.
As to the story itself, I picked this up on a whim and had no preconceived notions. I simply liked the title. I love the idea of the disaffected artist who improves the banal motel art we've all seen in every hotel. I didn't know this was a sequel of sorts, but I don't feel like I'm missing anything by not having read the first book, since this story is self-contained and the characters reveal themselves eventually.
Some of the specific plot points are left unresolved, but there's enough information for the reader to figure out what's going to happen next in the lives of the secondary characters. Quite enjoyable, and a nice break from the superheroes.
I thoroughly enjoyed the quirkiness of the story as well as the clarity of the art. It seems more and more these days comic book creators feel the need to be all experimental and fancy with their page design. It's refreshing to see art that is unselfconscious. By rendering the story this way, Little makes the art unobtrusive, so it serves the story rather than hindering it.
As to the story itself, I picked this up on a whim and had no preconceived notions. I simply liked the title. I love the idea of the disaffected artist who improves the banal motel art we've all seen in every hotel. I didn't know this was a sequel of sorts, but I don't feel like I'm missing anything by not having read the first book, since this story is self-contained and the characters reveal themselves eventually.
Some of the specific plot points are left unresolved, but there's enough information for the reader to figure out what's going to happen next in the lives of the secondary characters. Quite enjoyable, and a nice break from the superheroes.
kateofmind's review
4.0
Motel Art Improvement Service is about as charmingly goofy a graphic novel as anyone could ask for, by turns cutely raunchy and archly clever as it tells the story of Bee, an 18-year-old whose cross-country bike journey has been cut unexpectedly short, and Cyrus, a renegade artist who travels the country in his own weird way.
The title comes from Cyrus's habit of stealing motel art from wherever he happens to be working as housekeeper that week and embellishing it as only an art school hipster can; a showgirl advertising Atlantic City is suddenly a little old lady in pasties, a sickeningly bucolic farm scene suddenly depicts a shunned hitchhiker as well. He also has a habit of helping himself to 10% of whatever pharmaceuticals he finds in the guests' belongings as he cleans the room -- and it is this habit, rather than the art thing, that drives the plot, which is tight and tense and funny as hell.
This is not a book for the young'uns or the puritanical, mind you. Bee and Cyrus take a lot of drugs and have a lot of adorably explicit cartoon sex as they make their way through this offbeat little story. The art is bright and colorful and the character designs are very appealing; Bee is no standard-issue pneumatic comic book bombshell but seems like a real girl with a bigger butt (when getting uniforms she says she needs a size 10 shirt and size 4 top), and Cyrus is just a tall, rangy, lanky dude, but, like real people should and do, they just work with what they have and are trying to find ways to be happy. And as an aid in that endless quest, Motel Art Improvement Service is rather a good one.
The title comes from Cyrus's habit of stealing motel art from wherever he happens to be working as housekeeper that week and embellishing it as only an art school hipster can; a showgirl advertising Atlantic City is suddenly a little old lady in pasties, a sickeningly bucolic farm scene suddenly depicts a shunned hitchhiker as well. He also has a habit of helping himself to 10% of whatever pharmaceuticals he finds in the guests' belongings as he cleans the room -- and it is this habit, rather than the art thing, that drives the plot, which is tight and tense and funny as hell.
This is not a book for the young'uns or the puritanical, mind you. Bee and Cyrus take a lot of drugs and have a lot of adorably explicit cartoon sex as they make their way through this offbeat little story. The art is bright and colorful and the character designs are very appealing; Bee is no standard-issue pneumatic comic book bombshell but seems like a real girl with a bigger butt (when getting uniforms she says she needs a size 10 shirt and size 4 top), and Cyrus is just a tall, rangy, lanky dude, but, like real people should and do, they just work with what they have and are trying to find ways to be happy. And as an aid in that endless quest, Motel Art Improvement Service is rather a good one.
glitterandtwang's review
4.0
Jason Little's art is cute — even his graphic sex scenes have an adorability to them. I wasn't a big fan of Bee's love interest here, which made me like the book less than I might have otherwise.
lamnatos's review
3.0
Fun little story with a nice heroine, vibrant drawings and an interesting layout approach.
janetlun's review
Love this graphic novel. The heroine is nerdy, fashion-challenged and pear-shaped and yet she's athletic, and finds love (or at least sex) and adventure! The art is fun, and the story line is original and funny. There is no adolescent angst at all.
More...