Volume 1
Written by Hugo Pratt and Milo Manara
Art by Milo Manara
2011
Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/
Milo Manara is - apparently - a comics legend.
I hope that it doesn't count too much against me that I haven't heard of him before (expect in that he did the artwork for the Biffy Clyro album: the Vertigo of Bliss - which (as those of you who have seen it will know) is quietly filthy... filth being a recurring theme in his work as it says on his wikipedia page: "an Italian comic book writer and artist, best known for his erotic approach to the medium." oh-er!)
When I first saw this big handsome book (if it came up to me in a bar - I would be more than happy to let it buy me a drink) I was really excited to give it a try. Causally flicking through before I read it (which is an awful habit I know - like fast forwarding through a film before sitting down to watch it) the lush, pretty, beautifully drawn all sung to me: promising high adventures and sweeping romantical excitement.
Strangely on the cover it says: "Indian Summer and other stories" when more accurately it should say: "Indian Summer and The Paper Man." Of the two I much preferred The Paper Man: but (full disclosure) - and I feel like a failure admitting this - I just couldn't get onboard this comic: but there's just something with the stories that just didn't give me enough to properly care: and instead of reading them - it was more like I was just watching myself read them (does that make sense?). Maybe this isn't the sort of book that you can just pick up at a lunch-break and easily slip into - maybe it needs proper care and attention and a certain level of respect and time. I'd be up for trying out anything else he's done (because yeah: the art is utterly fantastic): but the stuff here just didn't hit the mark.
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Links: Comic Booked Article, Graphic Eye Review, Good Ok Bad Review.
Further reading: Corto Maltese, The Chimpanzee Complex, Blacksad: Somewhere Between the Shadows.
All comments welcome.
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