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A review by lisa_nog
Killing and Dying by Adrian Tomine
4.0
This is a very well developed, nuanced collection of short story comics. Think comic literary fiction. I missed it when it came out in 2015 and I really enjoyed it. The Japanese translated story didn't do much for me, but the art was crisp and beautiful.
The number one concept I *always* ask myself when evaluating a comic or graphic novel is, and I apologize if I'm not articulating this well: Is this message best served by being told in comic format? Could it have been merely the written word? Does the art elevate the message?
This succeeds in spades. The characters are uniquely visually developed and the art actually moves and accentuates the story. I cannot tell you how many graphic novels I've read this year where there is some mumbo jumbo art slapped on the page with a text box above it and I as the reader am supposed to intuit that it's cohesive.
Sorry for my rant, editing is a dying art and I don't think people are critical enough.
Suffice to say, this is a good one!
I've never read anything by Adrian Tomine save things I might have come across randomly on the web and I'm going to track down more.
The number one concept I *always* ask myself when evaluating a comic or graphic novel is, and I apologize if I'm not articulating this well: Is this message best served by being told in comic format? Could it have been merely the written word? Does the art elevate the message?
This succeeds in spades. The characters are uniquely visually developed and the art actually moves and accentuates the story. I cannot tell you how many graphic novels I've read this year where there is some mumbo jumbo art slapped on the page with a text box above it and I as the reader am supposed to intuit that it's cohesive.
Sorry for my rant, editing is a dying art and I don't think people are critical enough.
Suffice to say, this is a good one!
I've never read anything by Adrian Tomine save things I might have come across randomly on the web and I'm going to track down more.