A Small Killing (Vg Graphics Series)

Rating:
Summary: Disturbingly excellent
Review: Stories about "real people" are common enough in your average grocery store paperback section, but in comic books, they're something of a rarity. When you're going that route, it definitely takes somebody with the talent and genius of Alan Moore to pull it off not only successfully, but brilliantly.

Moore has an off-putting sense of mysticism that fills the book, all the while leaving the reader in complete suspense the entire time, even at such mundane things as the main character waiting to use the bathroom. Moore's characterization is so powerful, so twisted, that even without a detailed plot backing them up, they'd be worth a good story in and of themselves.

Winner of a whole shebang of awards, this is a "comic book" that is definitely written for adults; and for once, not because of gratuitous sex or violence, but because it will challenge every erg of intellect you have to spare.

Rating:
Summary: Disturbingly excellent
Review: Stories about "real people" are common enough in your average grocery store paperback section, but in comic books, they're something of a rarity. When you're going that route, it definitely takes somebody with the talent and genius of Alan Moore to pull it off not only successfully, but brilliantly.

Moore has an off-putting sense of mysticism that fills the book, all the while leaving the reader in complete suspense the entire time, even at such mundane things as the main character waiting to use the bathroom. Moore's characterization is so powerful, so twisted, that even without a detailed plot backing them up, they'd be worth a good story in and of themselves.

Winner of a whole shebang of awards, this is a "comic book" that is definitely written for adults; and for once, not because of gratuitous sex or violence, but because it will challenge every erg of intellect you have to spare.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent manipulation of the medium
Review: This is an unusual comic, even for Alan Moore. Jammed with intertexuality, and literary refrences, it is a reasonably dense read. It is comparable to Mordecai Richler, without the humour, and that is my main complaint. It is as serious as comics can get and really quite striking at certain moments. The fact that the main character is an advertising executive, allows Zarate and Moore to use images that speak volumes about this characters inner turmoil. Classic comic techniques are used throughout the book but in an interesting manner that you probably haven't seen before. If your curious what a comic can do, or how close the medium has come to speaking with as much complexity as a novel, then this is the comic for you. It doesn't quite reach the level of great literature but it does come frighteningly close. Some of the horror techniques that Moore developed in Swamp Thing are used to a different effect here, and quite well I might add. Personally I like more humour in my fiction, especially serious fiction, but this is a great stab at literature for a comic artist... quite impresive.