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lamnatos's reviews
304 reviews
Scott Pilgrim: the Complete Series by Bryan Lee O’Malley
4.0
Deeper than what it appears at first. It starts off as a funny, post-teen romantic story and progresses to a question about adulthood, realizing & accepting your past and what it means to leave teen-hood behind. I found Scott a relatable character in his uncertainty for his future and his selective fuzziness with his past. The videogame infused scenes nicely underlined his still-teen-like POV of reality. Ultimately it comes down (as always) to making amends with those around you and your past self before you can move on.
Seconds by Nathan Fairbairn, Bryan Lee O’Malley
4.0
A spiritual successor of sorts to "Scott Pilgrim vs The World". Again the concept of accepting and letting go of your mistakes. The protagonist, Katie, is on the brink of moving from being a successful employee to starting her own business. Her self doubts and fears, both professional but also personal, make her cling to the present and wishing to revise her past.
It has better controlled sketches than Scott Pilgrim vs The World and the coloring adds nicely to the story.
It has better controlled sketches than Scott Pilgrim vs The World and the coloring adds nicely to the story.
Spook Country by William Gibson
2.0
As a sequel to "Pattern Recognition", this felt like a let-down to me. It lacked focus and it ended with way too many threads that were left unexplored. One of them is the concept of locative art (a mirrorworld term for our augmented reality), so much potential left unexplored. The multi-layer stream of bits and pieces ebbing and flowing in and out of the story could be an attempt to show the world-in-flux; it didn't work for me.
Maybe the novel is in itself a kind of locative art, only meant to be experienced in the specific period it was written, else its subtle nuances of that reality in time would not be appreciated by those from a different time, at a different place. Maybe if I'd read it in 2007, while living in the post-911 reality of US, I could appreciate more the patterns exposed.
Maybe the novel is in itself a kind of locative art, only meant to be experienced in the specific period it was written, else its subtle nuances of that reality in time would not be appreciated by those from a different time, at a different place. Maybe if I'd read it in 2007, while living in the post-911 reality of US, I could appreciate more the patterns exposed.
Oyasumi Punpun by Inio Asano
5.0
How does guilt mold and guide you? How do your memories prevent you from reconciling with your present? How do you get stuck focused on what's behind, missing what's right next to you? How does your family sculpt you despite your fierce desire against it? Promises you end up not keeping, against others, against yourself. How long do you wait until you move on, and how do you move on?
Where do you find meaning and who do you appoint as your guiding light? What if you you're the only one who sees that light?
What happens when you force yourself to blend in, abandoning your true identity?
A dark story with enough characters to explore all of the above and then some. Exquisite drawings that capture both the deep characters and the living city they inhabit. They confidently veer off their arresting realism when the story demands it, from the inspired fluidity of the protagonist's self-image to the occasional, reality-bending visions of key characters.
Where do you find meaning and who do you appoint as your guiding light? What if you you're the only one who sees that light?
What happens when you force yourself to blend in, abandoning your true identity?
A dark story with enough characters to explore all of the above and then some. Exquisite drawings that capture both the deep characters and the living city they inhabit. They confidently veer off their arresting realism when the story demands it, from the inspired fluidity of the protagonist's self-image to the occasional, reality-bending visions of key characters.