So I Read Russian Olive to Red King

A 250 word (or less) review of the Russian Olive to Red King graphic novel,
by Kathryn Immonen and Stuart Immonen; Adhouse Books

Russian Olive to Red King is a bleak comic. It is a beautifully crafted, achingly sparse story of depression, despair, resolution, and loss. In the comic Olive, an archeologist, is leaving on a work trip to a remote northern location. Her lover Red is staying behind with her dog to struggle with his writers block and finally turn in an overdue article. Tragedy strikes and Olive's small plane crashes in north, forcing her to struggle to survive. Red, meanwhile, cut off from Olive and ignorant to whether she might still be alive, is left to keep the faith. It is, as I've said, a bleak comic. It is also achingly beautiful: whether depicting arctic wilds or huddling in a bedroom, Russian Olive to Red King captures a kind of majestic stillness. It's an aesthetic choice that resonates with enormity and isolation of the story. While the story of the comic is powerful, for me the artwork is its best selling feature and the reason to seek out this comic. It's spectacular. One thing you should be aware of, though, is that the final third of the comic is a lengthy prose section. I found this part of the book as bleak, artful, and powerful as the comic and the perfect way to end the book (and a great statement on the power of art as a mechanism for dealing with emotion). But, your mileage may vary, and reading a comic that ends with an essay may not be your speed.

Word count: 250

So I Read Moving Pictures

A 250 word (or less) review of Moving Pictures the graphic novel

By Kathryn and Stuart Immonen, Top Shelf Productions

"Comics are just words and pictures… You can do anything with words and pictures."¹ Moving Pictures certainly argues to this thesis. The comic takes place during World War 2 in Nazi occupied France and is constructed around efforts by the French to hide their cultural treasures from Nazi art profiteers.² Although, as the books dustcover synopsis helpfully points out: “this is (not) that story”. Rather the focus of Moving Pictures is Ila Gardner, a Canadian helping the French, who becomes embroiled in a dangerous affair with Rolf Hauptmann, a Nazi Art Commission officer. Kathryn Immonen’s script is constructed in an unorthodox manner, being built around the interrogation of Ila by Rolf interspersed with flashback sequences that serve as portraits³ of the events surrounding the interrogation. Stuart Immonen’s artwork uses this sketchy, minimalist cartoon line with heavy inks… kind of like a period film⁴ of a noir tintin. The result of the way the comic is structured leaves many key details happening off panel or implied.  To me this left some of the story open to interpretation, forcing me to revisit the flashback portraits to reach my own conclusions about the story. I think this ambiguity may have been a thematic choice: when looking at sculptures or paintings audiences use a single image and setting to construct their own meaning and narratives and I think Moving Pictures is commenting on this process. Of course I, like my interpretation of the book’s events, could be severely wrong. I’d highly recommend Moving Pictures.

Word Count: 250

1: Quoth Harvey Pekar via Warren Ellis…

2: Literally Moving Pictures to safety

3: Portraits that convey the emotionally resonate stakes of the story.  Moving Pictures.

4: A Film. A Moving Picture.

Okay, I kind of want to layout my interpretation of the ending of Moving Pictures on the off chance that someone who read the book reads this entry and wants to compare notes. This is going to be very SPOILER intensive, so I’m going to drop it after the cut.

*SPOILERS*