NO Spoilers following:Habibi is the new graphic novel opus by Craig Thompson and it is very much worth the long wait in every respect! Published by Pantheon, this is one of the most BEAUTIFULLY designed graphic novels I've seen in some time (and there has been quite a few really nice ones the last couple of years) and at 660 pages, its price of $35.00 (hardcover with no annoying dust jacket) is something you won't flinch at when you see its grandeur!
When you see a physical copy of Habibi, I'm pretty sure that like myself, you'll not want to know much about what it's about, rather letting its magic unfold as you read it, but here's my little sound bite for those of you who don't already know that a new graphic novel by Craig Thompson (Blankets, Good-Bye Chunky Rice, Carnet de Voyage) is to be celebrated from rooftops everywhere!:
Habibi is, at its core, a graphic novel about two slaves / orphans, about love and horror, and about Islam. Habibi is one of those graphic novels that will be read, shared, and studied for years and it is very much a high water mark of the graphic novel / sequential art medium. There's no way that Habibi isn't going to win the Eisner next year for best original graphic novel!
1 comment:
At times Thompson seems to jam as much thematic material into the work as he can, with occasionally comic results. In one scene, he tries to show the necessity of storytelling in Arabic culture when the main character comforts her frightened child with a bedtime story until he stops crying. The story she chooses? The book of Job, of course, which is depicted with everything from cattle being butchered to pustules breaking forth on Job's body. Clearly what any sensible mother would send her kid to sleep with.
At least the cover looks cool.
Post a Comment