The Salon

The Salon is a murder mystery set in 1907 Paris where someone is killing artists. Art patrons Gertrude Stein and her brother Leo think they may be next, so they enlist the assistance of several of their closest friends, including historical figures Alice B. Toklas, Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Erik Satie, and Guillaume Apollinaire to figure out the killer's identity and put a stop to these gruesome murders. The path to solving these crimes leads the reader through the city and its landmarks, a tour of art history, and assorted absinthe-tinged escapades.

Nick Bertozzi created this graphic novel. He has a number of other credits and is known for the graphic novels Houdini: The Handcuff King, Lewis & Clark, and Stuffed! He is also a contributor to ACT-I-VATE, drawing the webcomic Persimmon Cup. Bertozzi speaks in depth about his work on The Salon in this interview with Tom Spurgeon. 

I felt that Bertozzi did an excellent job weaving an interesting tale, conveying information about the period and characters, and also using color and form to his advantage in this book. The art has painterly aspects, and the colors portray not only mood but also transport the reader into different spaces and worlds where the action takes place. Balancing accuracy and fantasy is a difficult endeavor, and Bertozzi pulls it off with elan here.

Reviews I have read of this book have been positive about its form, flow, and content. Rebecca Porte praised the book with its combination of "energetic line with touches of cartoon flair and high modernist whimsy." Brian Heater called the book "a fun tale, culminating in an atmospheric climax." The Comics Journal's Dirk Deppey concluded that "Bertozzi's ability to make all the elements blend together is such seamless fashion is remarkable." A comprehensive list of reviews can be found here from the author.

Unfortunately, much of the publicity about this book came from a court case that arose when comics store owner Gordon Lee unwittingly distributed a comic book that contained an excerpt of this book featuring a naked Pablo Picasso to children during a trick-or-treat event in Rome, Georgia. He was defended by the Comic Book Legal Defense Club, "a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of the First Amendment rights of the comics art form and its community of retailers, creators, publishers, librarians, and readers." In the end, after years of litigation, all charges against Lee were dismissed. This controversy overshadows an inventive, daring, and cerebral graphic novel.

A brief preview and more are available here from the author. He also provides a preview video here. The Salon was published by St. Martin's Press.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Not Quite A Graphic Novel Month steams along with today's entry, The Caldecott Medal winning The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

This thick book is chock full of beautiful, evocative drawings that pack quite an emotional punch. They are very reminiscent of silent film images, with their quiet energy and instant empathetic appeal. The illustrations sometimes also resemble flip books or old time photographs. The story follows Hugo, a 12 year old orphan who secretly lives in a Paris train station during the turn of the 20th century. At the train station, Hugo maintains the grand clock, attempts to fix an automaton he found, steals food, and tries to avoid the police who guard the place. As time passes, we learn how Hugo came to be in this predicament and he befriends a young girl who accompanies him on his adventures. Unbeknownst to him, her godfather is George Méliès, a French film-making pioneer and the creator of the automaton.

The author of this book, Brian Selznick, is a well established children's book author who has been publishing books since 1991 and who has won multiple honors in addition to the Caldecott, which are all listed here. He speaks in depth about this book and his work in general in this interview from Scholastic. In addition, Selznick has a wonderfully detailed website about the book, its making, and its film adaptation here.

Aside from garnering quite a bit of critical praise, this book was optioned by Academy Award winning director Martin Scorsese who made it into a feature film. The film won Oscars for Cinematography, Art Direction, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Visual Effects. A technical masterpiece to match the book, the movie cost a bundle to make and is well worth a viewing.

This has been almost universally exalted book. The tough critics at Kirkus Reviews gushed in a starred review that it was "elegantly designed" and "uniquely inventive." The New York Times' John Schwartz praised the book: its "story is full of twists and surprises, and it is especially touching for being based in part on the real-life troubles of Georges Méliès." The Guardian's kid reviewer called the book "brilliant" and added, "I think this book deserves five out of five stars."

A video preview is available here from the author. The book was published by Scholastic, who have a variety of resources at their site.

Why it is not quite a graphic novel: This book is beautifully illustrated, with each page acting as a panel that propels the story. The lack of words integrated in the story prevents me from saying it is a true graphic novel, especially when there are some extended text pieces that act as glue between the art chapters. It is the separation of the words from the art that lead to my decision about what to call this book, which is a supremely illustrated novel, if I have to categorize it. Not that this demarcation should detract from the book's beauty, warmth, and fantastic storyline. It reads simultaneously like a photo book, movie, and novel, which is no easy feat to achieve.