Illustrated

Written and illustrated by David Petersen.
Begun c. Oct 2007; finished 13 Oct.

This is a graphic novel about a Redwall-esque civilization of anthropomorphic mice. It revolves around the Mouse Guard, a organization of warrior-guardians who patrol the highways between mouse townships and strongholds, and escort civilian travellers and protect them from predators and harm. A plot is uncovered to overthrow the Guard, and it’s up to a handful of loyalists to uncover and defeat the traitor and his followers.

The artwork is the highlight: it is so simple. The drawings are built up from the ‘themes’ of simple shapes, lines and colours are bold and distinct, gradations and embellishments are few, and details are only presented where needed. The illustrations of the mice are somewhat stylized: cute and delightful and distinct, while remaining anatomically accurate. The mouse civilization is quite anthropomorphized, although not to the extent of Redwall. On the whole, the artwork exuded a ‘nature’ air that was both earthy and mythic at the same time.

The storyline wasn’t as strong as I’d hoped. It suffers by making leaps to conclusions at various points in the story, leaps that I couldn’t quite follow. It also seemed a little simplistic in some areas, especially regarding the motives of the traitor. There was also an element of deus ex machina, which didn’t seem convincing. On the whole, I thought Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 contained a good story seed, but it was planted on too shallow a soil, and did not achieve the depth and intricacy that’s befitting to a story.

(But, I haven’t read widely in graphic novels, perhaps I’m expecting too much out of this one — or any graphic novel for that matter?)

Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 and relishing the simple, bold artwork.

This book was bought from Jeff and Ann VanderMeer’s personal-library book sale.

Written by Orson Scott Card; illustrated by Doug Chiang.
Begun 04 Apr 2007; finished 06 Apr.

Robota is a science-fiction graphic novel. The storyboarding and artwork was by Doug Chiang, the leading concept artist behind the Star Wars saga; the words were written by Orson Scott Card.

Robota is set on the world of that same name; robots are the dominant race, whilst the organic lifeforms, humans and sentient animals, struggle against persecution and destruction. The tale is about a young man’s discovery of his destiny amidst this struggle.

The artwork and the world-building are this graphic novel’s highlights. Chiang’s vision of the world of Robota is simultaneously grand and intimate, and entirely compelling. His paintings and drawings provide a tantalizing glimpse into that world and gives the reader a concept of the artist’s vision, yet they do not overwhelm with details, still giving room for the reader’s imagination to fill in the details. They conveyed a broad foundation of his vision while allowing me free rein to run with this vision and stretch it further in my mind’s eye. I think an artist who achieves this rapport with the reader has succeeded. Indeed, Star Wars Episodes I-III had that same effect on me, and I must credit Chiang for being able to do the same with his novel.

The writing was somewhat sparse, with a strong focus on dialogue instead of description. (Which is fair enough, as the description is left to the artwork.) The story had a rather strange and ambiguous ending: I can’t say that it’s entirely effective, but I don’t have any convincing reasons to back that up. Let’s just say that it was an intriguing story with a puzzling conclusion.

Robota shines out for Chiang’s beautiful visions; in the end I think the narrative is somewhat peripheral, the artwork is sufficient to carry the entire story.

Written by Warren Ellis; illustrated by Darick Robertson.

The graphic novel series Transmetropolitan is set in a futuristic Earth, where nanotechnology and A.I. have blasted the quality of living through the roof, but humanity is as uncouth, corrupted and selfish as ever — perhaps even moreso. It’s set in a city where the well-to-do indulge in every hedonistic, amoral and debaucherous activities there are, quite content with remaining unaware of the poor, destitute and downtrodden; where truth and reality are obscured by drugged high and sensual delights. A world very much like ours, with all the nasty characteristics multiplied a hundredfold.

The story follows the psychopathic, chain-smoking gonzo journalist Spider Jerusalem in his quest for “truth”. Read the rest of this entry »