If it reminded me of anything, Beautiful Darkness reminded me of another favorite book of a couple years back, the Winshluss Pinocchio, another sinister fairy tale notable for its art. Other perfectly nice comics have swell surfaces readers can just bounce right off. No matter what horror or cruelty is being depicted, this book is never not eyecandy of the highest order.īut these are the surface things, shallow things. This is a full-blast horror comic presented as a grand children's adventure, but those two tones are balanced by a careful performance with the watercolors, in particular, that somehow bridges both worlds without disrupting either, at least for the most part. The surface reasons why are pretty easy to spot- it's NOT a book of subtle pleasures: pitch-black gags unexpected violence and horror-jolts a pervading atmosphere not just of dread but a corrosive disappointment in people and how people treat one another and oh, the art! The art rigorously creates a precise world but without being too didactic- it still has a looseness and improvisation of line that warmly invites the reader in and requires their participation it's both suggestive and complete. Let's start with this: Beautiful Darknessis probably going to wind up my favorite comic book of the year. I'll put a little jump and then we'll get going.īEAUTIFUL DARKNESS BY FABIEN VEHLMANN & KERASCOET, originally published in 2009 as Jolies Tenebres, translator Helge Dascher. I was just very struck by it and just wanted to talk about it freely, so- sorry if this one is not for you.Īnyways- that's the preamble. There's also a preview at the D&Q website, if you'd prefer just to see it for yourself- I think the preview might sell you on it, as it certainly did for me. I'm very sorry if you're looking for a review on this one- I can assure you other people have reviewed it, it's a terrific book and you should go read a review of it if you're curious. it's the kind of book if you can go in relatively cold, I'd suggest it), and then near the end, I spoil the ending. There are two spoilers- one, I spoil the premise (which. WARNING: THIS IS AN ESSAY ABOUT WHY I LIKED THE BOOK SO MUCH, NOT A CLASSICAL REVIEW, SO I POTENTIALLY SPOIL PLOT DEVELOPMENTS. Below the jump is a little essay about BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS, the Fabien Vehlmann & Kerascoet graphic novel published by Drawn & Quarterly in 2014.
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