Reviews

The Armed Garden and Other Stories by David B.

posies23's review against another edition

4.0

Beautifully drawn, and memorably told, this is a dream-like exploration of Persian and Christian mythology. It's very dark, almost nightmare-like at times, and light and cartoonish at other times. The writer/artist is clearly talented, and I enjoyed his versions of these stories. I'm not sure I'd ever re-read it, but it was well worth the journey.

reneoro's review against another edition

4.0

Los puedo hacer bailar con mi tambor.

uosdwisrdewoh's review against another edition

4.0

A collection of three stories that mix myth and history. David B's highly stylized art owes more to medieval tapestries than to modern cartooning at times, a style quite suited to the stories at hand. The characters may seem flat, but they take on the depth of legends, making for intensely fascinating reading. The first story, a deeply strange tale from the Golden Age of Islam is told so well that I was never sure if it was an original story or a virtuosic retelling of an ancient legend. The final two linked stories likewise tread lightly over history, as stories of religious sects in fifteenth-century Bohemia give way to the magical realism of sword-wielding trees and a spirit-possessed drum.

Like the other Fantagraphics books in translation published at this time, it's only around in limited quantities, and with the recent death of Kim Thompson, for whom publishing and translating French comics was a passion, the future of these kinds of books in America lies in doubt. New copies of this volume demand a steep price, but it's well worth seeking out at the library, as I did.

mjthomas43's review against another edition

3.0

Fun and thought-provoking stories about the nature of the universe, tyranny, war, death, obsession, music and love, all from an historic and to my mind Middle Eastern perspective. Fun but not for a quick read.

abh8's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

kirstiecat's review against another edition

3.0

David B. is an incredible artist and I really think, for me at least, I have to love both the drawings and the words/story involved in graphic novels (otherwise, I'll still to words only). David B's drawings are sometimes morbid, sometimes sensual, and sometimes just showing overwhelming expression and detail. He doesn't slip at all in his drawings here and there's a very mythical sense to what he's exploring. He's really talking about the beginning of creation, different warring thoughts, and showing different battle scenes.

My issue with this graphic novel is more within my bias about stories themselves. I'm just not really all that keen on battles, wars, and things of that nature. True, because this involves myth this is much more interesting but it still really isn't my thing. I'd rather re-read David B.'s very personal autobiography Epileptic or more about his bizarre dreams (Nocturnal Conspiracies). If you're into the battle scenes and myth more than exploring just the human psyche and personal tragedy, this is the book for you, though.

jeffhall's review against another edition

5.0

This is an absolutely brilliant collection representing one of the world's premier graphic novelists at the top of his game. Although these pieces previously appeared in the pages of Mome, it is rewarding to have them gathered together in a single volume featuring larger page impressions than English-speaking readers have previously seen for these same works. David B's work is outstanding on every level - stunningly beautiful pen work, highly original story-telling, and well-conceived page layouts that manage to serve as thought-provoking eye candy. David B is an amazing talent, and The Armed Garden further demonstrates the wonderful creations that are his stock-in-trade.

jayshay's review against another edition

4.0

It has been a while since I read 'Epileptic' which is considered his master-piece, but I think I enjoyed this more. I had a lot less of a problem with David B. using his wild thick hallucinogenic inks and umbers to create the wild mytho-religious phantasmagorias of the prophets, fanatics and warriors in these three stories than I did with his more autobiographical material with his brother and family in the earlier work. While I don't think these stories claim strict historical accuracy to the time and place of One Thousand and One Nights or medieval Europe, it does feel like they evoke how people might have looked at the world back then.

tymelgren's review

4.0

Bizarre and badass Christian and Persian legends from the eighth and fifteenth centuries. David B rubs some brown watercolors over his drawings which somehow makes his style a lot more appealing to me than it was in EPILEPTIC. The color scheme reminds me of Jason's IRON WAGON, but in that book the drab colors made an already boring story seem even worse, and here I guess it reminds me of a crumbly parchment, I like it. If you look closely at the pages though you notice that some of the drawings are little bit pixely, like maybe Fantagraphics printed the pages just slightly bigger than they were originally drawn, or like maybe this was printed in some dude's office. I also wish there would have been a paragraph or two about where these stories came from, cuz now that I've read these I wanna go on some more historical/metaphysical/Christian/Muslim/Zoroastrian adventures.

negotiumperambulans's review against another edition

dark reflective fast-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0