Russian Olive to Red King

The last book I read by these creators, Moving Pictures, was a very mature and serious look at art, life, and the lengths that people will go to preserve both. Russian Olive to Red King takes on a different set of themes, those of love and loss, but it does so in a similarly complex and nuanced manner. This is not really a book for younger readers, not because it is full of sex or violence but because it tackles legitimately mature themes about major life events.

The story follows a couple, Olive and Red. Olive leaves for a business trip to a remote spot in the Russian wilderness when there is an accident. From there, we see how she tries to deal with it as a survival tale. But we simultaneously see how Red is dealing with it at home. As he struggles to get out of bed, do any work, or even walk their dog Pasha, dribs and drabs about him and their life start to emerge and give a larger picture of their relationship.

In an interesting twist, there are also some major indications that at least one of the main storylines is not as it seems. It is that conundrum that really sells the book for me, making for excellent drama and also commentary about the power of will and hope. I do not want to spoil things, so I won't get much more into the plot but will say that the final chapter is an emotional roller coaster ride that is revelatory in multiple senses of the word. Not only is it an essay about life and eventually hope, but it sheds a new light on the entire enterprise.

I was especially taken with the artwork in this book, and how it shifts between minimalist panels and more detailed splash pages. It contains a great range of emotion as well some beautiful wilderness vistas as the story shifts back and forth between locales. This deft combination of images helps to drive the story and create a strong atmosphere, a feature that comes to the foreground even when the time comes in the final chapter when words dominate its pages.

ROtRK is a beautiful and heart-breaking book that is one of the best I have read all year. It is the latest creation of Kathryn and Stuart Immonen, a wife and husband who have worked on many comics over the years. Kathryn has also written multiple series for Marvel Comics, most notably Patsy Walker: Hellcat and Journey into Mystery. The Joe Shuster Award winning Stuart has drawn multiple series for both major comics companies and is the artist for the latest batch of Star Wars comic books. The Immonens speak more about their collaboration on ROtRK in this interview. and also this interview.

All of the reviews I have read about this book have been full of praise. Jason Wilkins extolled its virtues, "Evocative and enthralling, this is easily one of the best, most accomplished books I’ve read this or any year." Seth T. Hahne had some great points about its  experimental storytelling, and he expected the book to be "divisive" but still admitted that it "makes for a peach book club discussion." Johanna Draper Carlson wrote, "It’s beautifully illustrated, which makes the harsh story all the more powerful, particularly with the contrast with the warm, often orange coloring." Caitlin Rosberg called it "an excellent read."

Russian Olive to Red King was published by Adhouse Books, and they provided a preview and much more here.

Moving Pictures

Moving Pictures is an apt title for this book for two reasons, neither of which has to do with movies. It is about the effort of French museum workers to hide and protect great works of art (some are "moving pictures") from the Nazi occupation during World War II. This book follows the exploits of the curator Ila Gardner, a Canadian woman who decided to stay in Paris, where she is in charge of "third rate" works at the Louvre.

The main narrative involves her being interrogated by Rolf Hauptman, a Nazi officer in charge of tracking down and cataloging great works of art. To say that their discussions are politically charged is an understatement, but matters are further complicated because they also have some version of a romantic relationship. Ila has many methods to stand up for herself and also defend an important part of civilization against an overpowering enemy, and over the course of the book she proves quite resourceful. However, Hauptmann is not a two-dimensional villain nor a pushover himself, and the study of these two characters as they joust is fascinating.

As you can see, the art is relatively clean and simple yet complex. There is an excellent interplay between lights and darks that obscure people's faces at times but also set great atmosphere. Also, characters and settings are defined through negative space, which further abstracts the events of the book in a way that adds import and layers of meaning. The reader's job is to fill in those spaces, a task which is aided by copious flashbacks to various scenes from Ila's life. This book is intelligent, complex, non-chronological, and deals with some very serious subject matter. I found it very rewarding to read and re-read, but I feel because of its subject matter and presentation, it is best suited for mature, capable readers.

Moving Pictures is a collaboration between Kathryn and Stuart Immonen, a wife and husband who have worked on many comics over the years. Kathryn has also written multiple series for Marvel Comics, most notably Patsy Walker: Hellcat and Journey into Mystery. The Joe Shuster Award winning Stuart has drawn multiple series for both major comics companies and is the artist for the latest batch of Star Wars comic books. They speak more extensively about their work on Moving Pictures in this interview and also this one.

This book has received its share of praise and was nominated for the Stumptown and the Doug Wright Awards. Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review and wrote that "the Immonens keep the story spare and focused to allow the ambiguity of survival itself to become the drama." Rich Johnston wrote that there is "an energy on the page making the pictures work just as hard as the words." Seth T. Hahne called it "a fantastic little book."

Moving Pictures was published by Top Shelf Productions, and they have a preview and much more information about the book here.