A review by jenniferdeguzman
Alice in Sunderland by Bryan Talbot

After some thinking, I realized why I didn't finish this book (even as I racked up late fees from the library): I found the subject matter, the history of the region of England called Sunderland, interesting, but there was nothing about the way the subject is treated that made the medium it's in the best choice. The conceit, with a man giving a lecture in a theater to an idiot with a soda, doesn't work, and the comics elements that are scattered throughout did not appeal to me. The visual pun comics illustration of Henry V's speech at Agincourt fell flat for me, and, honestly, I found it ugly. Digitally manipulated photographs are not as helpful in a historical work as real photographs nor as aesthetically interesting as good illustrations.

Sunderland seems like a fascinating place, and clearly this is meant to be a tribute to it. It just didn't work for me.