CSBG Archive
A Year of Cool Comics – Day 273
Here is the latest in our year-long look at one cool comic (whether it be a self-contained work, an ongoing comic or a run on a long-running title that featured multiple creative teams on it over the years) a day (in no particular order whatsoever)! Here‘s the archive of the comics posted so far!
Today we look at an absolutely haunting graphic novel by Cyril Pedrosa about a husband and wife dealing with the realization that their son might very well be torn away from them. It is called Three Shadows.
Enjoy!
This story, translated from the French by First Second Books, tells the tale of a young married couple named Louis and Lise and their son Joachim. They live on a farm in the countryside and everything is just nice and fun and simple until, well, one day things changed…for the worse.
Let’s see how Pedrosa handles the reveal (brilliantly, I might add)…
How spooky is that? Pedrosa really nails that scene beautifully.
In any event, the three shadows are here for Joachim. Effectively, his life is over. But if you’re his parents, how can you accept something so absurd as “oh, okay, three shadows are here to end our son’s life, oh well, what are you going to do?”
That’s what this book is really about – showing how Louis and Lise are driven to extremes (particularly Louis) in protecting their son. And in the process of protecting him, are they losing each other?
This is a powerful work with striking, dynamic artwork. It is also not a particularly upbeat work, if that’s your cup of tea. Still, it is a strong, well-crafted comic book that is well worth reading.
Click here to see First Second’s page for the book, including some more preview pages and links to a couple more reviews.
6 Comments
MarkAndrew
October 1, 2010 at 8:31 am
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, GREAT pick. This was killer.
Mandeville
October 1, 2010 at 8:53 am
My son is six and ever since he was born I can no longer handle stories like this. Maybe in a few years I can appreciate what the writer is doing here…but not now.
Craig B.
October 1, 2010 at 12:02 pm
Mandeville, I know exactly what you mean. When my son was a toddler, my wife and I made the mistake of watching the movie “Trainspotting.” Couldn’t get it out of my head for days. Some stories are just not right for certain times in our lives.
Dan Felty
October 2, 2010 at 7:47 am
Looks good.
Aaron
October 2, 2010 at 12:27 pm
I read Cormac McCarthy’s _The Road_ just weeks after my son (our first child) was born. I won’t say it was a mistake, as I can’t imagine that it’s possible that novel could have affected me as much as it did had I read it at any other time, but man, that was rough.
DrewT
October 3, 2010 at 1:14 pm
I loved this book!