Agatha Christie, Panthers, and other graphic novels

Look guys, I’m not saying I’m a graphic novels expert, per se. And that would be because I’m not. But I have been reading more than you might expect over the past months, and I thought I’d bring them all together into one post – not least because it’s graphic novels week over at Vulpes Libris, and today I’ve taken up a lot to talk about Panther by Brecht Evens

Panther

Evens is certainly my first and firmest love in the world of graphic novels (even given my reservations about Panther), and you can see my thoughts on a couple other Evens books – The Making Of and The Wrong Place under my Evens tag. Discovering him made me realise that graphic novels weren’t all superhero cartoon style – which doesn’t attract me at all – and his use of watercolours really drew me in.

But it’s slim pickings, I’ve found, in looking for artists that I really like. I went through the graphic novel section of Oxford’s library and came away with only one that looked me-friendly (Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel, which was enjoyable if infuriating at times, and non-fiction rather than a novel); I went through almost every book in the graphic novel shop Gosh! and found nothing at all that appealed to me. But I did find the lovely Ethel & Ernest by Raymond Briggs in a little shop in Ludlow, and wrote about it here.

I seem to have better luck with graphic non-fiction, actually. I recently bought and very much enjoyed Agatha: the real life of Agatha Christie by Anne Martinetti, Guillaume Lebeau, and Alexandre Franc (and, incidentally, have borrowed a few graphic novelisations of Christie’s books from my friend Fiona, so we’ll see how I get on with those). This one is also actually in translation, from French, and translated by Edward Gauvin.

Agatha graphic novel

I was a bit cautious at first, because it starts off with Agatha Christie’s ‘disappearance’ – a part of her life that is so often returned to that I am completely sick of the whole thing. I was worried that the whole book would take place during those eleven days – but thankfully it does not, and there is even a fun twist at that point: Poirot turns up as her confidante. If that sounds hopelessly twee, don’t worry – it’s done in a fun and irreverent way.

The rest of the book is very episodic, and often jumps back and forth. It’s more a series of snapshots of Agatha’s life, from childhood to death, including various trips around the world. My favourite bit is when, on the Orient Express, she has the idea to set a murder there – and is immediately besieged by Poirot, Miss Marple, and Tommy and Tuppence, all of whom are keen to be the lead. Poirot’s jealousy of Marple in the book is an especial joy.

Borrowed from here.
Borrowed from here.

Obviously this is not the best place to learn all about every facet of Christie’s life, but there is still plenty here – and I liked the slightly stark line drawings and interesting use of colour. Lots of jewel tones. The scenes of a sunset in Egypt make the book worth it all by themselves. Do hunt it out.

What else have I read? Ages ago I got a review copy of The Bind by William Goldsmith from Jonathan Cape, and even read it, but didn’t get around to writing about it here.

the bind cover

I was tempted in by the fact that it’s set in a book binding shop. It’s a ghost story, no less, and a battle between rival brothers. The story was good fun – and it was more about the plot than any of the other graphic books I’ve read so far. I also really enjoyed Goldsmith’s subtle palette. It’s quite a contrast to Evens or the Agatha book, both of which I also like for the way they used colour; Goldsmith did everything in shades of umber and grey. It fits the tone of the book beautifully.

the bind

It seems that I am chiefly drawn to graphic books because of the colours and artistic style – even if those can vary quite substantively from book to book. I don’t only like bold colours, or natural colours, or sharp lines, or watercolours – but (in those age-old words) I know what I like and what I don’t like. And the look of a graphic novel takes precedent for me over the story. Which surprises me, rather, given my love of good writing. (Graphic book fans – where do you fall down on this scale?)

But I have my limits, it seems. I tried White Cube by Brecht Vandenbroucke, which is about pink twins (?) who have a destructive interest in art. It’s a series of individual pieces, rather than an ongoing narrative, and in it they basically approve or disapprove of artworks – and, when they disapprove, are likely to destroy. The humour in it is quite dark and violent – and often a bit obvious, though there are moments of wit that I did enjoy. Overall, it had something of the psychotic about it that was doubtless the intention, but left me rather cold.

White Cube

So, there’s my history of graphic books to date. I can’t think of any others that I’ve read, actually, so I’m certainly not the most experienced at this medium – but it’s something I’d like to explore more, and had hoped to stumble across a new favourite when I visited Gosh! – but it was not to be, that time at least.

Are you enamoured with the world of graphic novels and graphic books, or have you steered clear? And what would you recommend?

 

13 thoughts on “Agatha Christie, Panthers, and other graphic novels

  • June 23, 2016 at 8:55 pm
    Permalink

    I’ve never read graphic novels but I was given a copy of The Ukrainian and Russian Notebooks and it looks interesting. I will definitely try it to see if I like this genre.

    Reply
    • June 25, 2016 at 4:22 pm
      Permalink

      Oo intriguing. I am more of a convert to graphic novels than I ever expected.

      Reply
  • June 23, 2016 at 9:06 pm
    Permalink

    I can name the only graphic novels I’ve ever read – “Maus” and “Red Rosa” – both were excellent, but I think that’s because they were more ‘serious’ works and they used the format well to get their points across. I can’t see that I’d become a convert – I prefer the written word if I’m honest…

    Reply
    • June 25, 2016 at 4:22 pm
      Permalink

      I definitely don’t see myself becoming a fully-fledged graphic-novel-only reader, but it’s nice to retreat to them occasionally. I’ll have to keep an eye out for those ones!

      Reply
  • June 24, 2016 at 2:33 am
    Permalink

    Here in the States my students go ga-ga over graphic novels. Teachers like them because they can hook reluctant readers, can help with inferring skills and help enhance vocabulary. Not sure how many of these titles are available where you are but for students that are about 9+ I recommend Roller Girl, El DEAFO, Sisters, Smile, Bone, Amulet, and Drama. Of course for adults or teens there is the gorgeous and heartbreaking Persepolis.

    Reply
    • June 25, 2016 at 4:23 pm
      Permalink

      I’m glad to hear that they’re a good entry for reluctant readers – I hadn’t thought about that. Excellent :)

      Reply
  • June 24, 2016 at 4:11 pm
    Permalink

    I admire the draughtsmanship of Hergé’s Tintin books (just look at the page as a whole design) and, much more recently, the wonderful books of Chris Ware. His drawings are so simple and pure. Here’s an example: https://www.vqronline.org/sites/default/files/story-images/ware-05_0.jpg

    It’s delightful to find so many of my favourite books on your List of 50 – and so many more to discover. Love listening to you and Rachel too!

    Reply
    • June 25, 2016 at 4:24 pm
      Permalink

      Thanks for the link! And thank you for your lovely comment – glad you’re enjoying the books and the podcast :)

      Reply
  • June 24, 2016 at 5:47 pm
    Permalink

    PS The language not so pure on this example page. Sorry!

    Reply
  • June 24, 2016 at 6:13 pm
    Permalink

    If you enjoy graphic novels for their beauty mainly, perhaps the adaptation of The Wind in The Willows ( in several volumes )by Michel Plessix would appeal to you ?
    Indeed Maus is a must-have.

    Reply
    • June 25, 2016 at 4:25 pm
      Permalink

      Haven’t heard of that! What a nice idea.

      Reply
  • June 28, 2016 at 1:04 pm
    Permalink

    I’ve become a recent graphic novel convert, and am always looking for new authors to discover. I would recommend Posy Simmonds–I think you would love her. Begin with ‘Tamara Drewe’ and see if she works for you, then move on to Mrs Weber’s Omnibus/Gemma Bovary. ‘Tamara Drewe’ is an adaptation of ‘Far from the Madding Crowd’, with gorgeous illustrations. I also loved ‘The Essential Dykes to watch Out for’ by Alison Bechdel and liked ‘Nimona’ by Noelle Stevenson. I haven’t read Lucy Knisley yet, but her ‘Relish’ has got some really good reviews.

    Reply
  • November 16, 2016 at 1:29 am
    Permalink

    My love of graphic books began with Posy Simmonds and Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi.
    Some more I’ve enjoyed:
    Radioactive, by Lauren Redniss (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/22/books/22book.html)
    The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Wonderstruck, by Brian Selznick
    Here, by Richard McGuire
    James Joyce, by Alfonso Zapico
    How the World Was: A California Childhood, by Emmanuel Guibert
    Relish and French Milk, by Lucy Knisley
    Cruising Through the Louvre, by David Prudhomme
    My favorite, though, is Building Stories, by Chris Ware (https://www.amazon.com/Building-Stories-Pantheon-Graphic-Novels/dp/0375424334/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1479255788&sr=1-1&keywords=building+stories). It’s more than a book – much more, in many ways.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

%d bloggers like this: