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unladylike's review
3.0
wow. such mixed feels. very less good second half. (yes, this is my first and last attempt at utilizing the "doge" meme. Reviewing this book is tough for me because I had such high hopes based on what I thought it was going into it, but then it became something else.
jammasterjamie's review
4.0
3.5 stars for the story, but the art drives it up to a solid 4. This is a good, if not terribly exciting, retelling of Beauty and the Beast set in a slightly post-apocalyptic near future. Because it was originally intended to be a screenplay, some of the chapter breaks came in strange places, and the pacing was a little thrown because of that, I think. Definitely an interesting one for me, but I'd really only recommending it for the Moore completist.
ostrava's review
2.0
Meh. Not crazy about this one.
It's a retelling of The Beauty And the Beast with some new sparks all over it. Felt more pretentious for Moore's standards than the usual, but it also was more like an off-the-mark Tim Burton movie from the 90s (empty, "plastic", edgy...).
So apparently this was an adaptation from some failed screenplay Moore kicked off into a deep corner of his desk after the whole project didn't take off, and now we have this. Given that, it's hard to decide who to blame here (although Moore would say the bloody corporations, they're always at fault).
It tries to go for some LGBT "exploration", but like, no one was "anything"? It was all bait because they a had straight sex and were cis? Not really a complaint, but I find it odd how no one's mentioning it ...
It's a retelling of The Beauty And the Beast with some new sparks all over it. Felt more pretentious for Moore's standards than the usual, but it also was more like an off-the-mark Tim Burton movie from the 90s (empty, "plastic", edgy...).
So apparently this was an adaptation from some failed screenplay Moore kicked off into a deep corner of his desk after the whole project didn't take off, and now we have this. Given that, it's hard to decide who to blame here (although Moore would say the bloody corporations, they're always at fault).
It tries to go for some LGBT "exploration", but like, no one was "anything"? It was all bait because they a had straight sex and were cis? Not really a complaint, but I find it odd how no one's mentioning it ...
philipf's review
4.0
Not sure why, but I had been wary about reading this. I guess the thought of a comics adaptation of a nearly 30 year old screenplay didn't fill me with confidence.
I shouldn't have worried. This was great. A version of Beauty and the Beast set in the world of fashion, it really works. And it definitely feels like it would also work as a movie.
I shouldn't have worried. This was great. A version of Beauty and the Beast set in the world of fashion, it really works. And it definitely feels like it would also work as a movie.
mistrum_crowe's review
3.0
Fashion Beast is a bit of a strange one. If you read it as a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, then it does work with that kind of fairy tale/mythic tone. If you look at it with more of a critical eye for depth of character and setting, then it may well disappoint you. Probably not Alan Moore's best, but the potential is definitely there, and I would love to see an expanded version of this if that's ever considered.
verkisto's review
3.0
Recently, I stumbled across some newer Alan Moore material that I hadn't read. Of course, I picked it up, and I started with Fashion Beast since all of his Cthulhu stories were all interconnected. I figured this would be a better, more self-contained place to start.
Of note is Malcolm McLaren's name on the cover. For those of you who don't know, he's the man who created the Sex Pistols, partly as a means to sell the clothes he featured in his boutique. Seeing his name on the cover wasn't a surprise, really, knowing that he was attached to fashion, but it came as a surprise that he came up with this story.
Moore writes a foreword telling a little about the history of the story -- McLaren wanted to create movies, and had some ideas that he wanted to have fleshed out by a comic book writer, which is how Moore became involved -- but it's hard to tell how much of the story was his, and how much Moore put into it. It feels very much like a Moore work, so my guess is McLaren had an outline that Moore used as a foundation, but the foreword doesn't answer that question.
The story was written in the 1980s, during the Cold War, and a lot of the fears of that era are ensconced in the story. It focuses on Doll, a hat check girl who gets fired and then winds up being the model for a famous designer, Celestine, the designer, and a young androgynous character who is responsible for dressing Doll. The three of them serve as a dysfunctional dynamic against the backdrop of nuclear winter. Ultimately, their story is one of revolution, using fashion as the means for that revolution. It winds up being very strange.
Since this is an Alan Moore work, the story includes a few speeches on the purpose of fashion, all of which are well-reasoned and convincing. They reminded me a bit of the speech that Meryl Streep's character gives in The Devil Wears Prada, when she talks about the effect of fashion on other aspects of our lives, though this story predates the movie by several years. I'm the sort of person who, for the most part, doesn't care what he looks like (though I at least try to match most of the time), but even I can see that side of the argument. I can even see the connection between fashion and revolution, like how the bikini and the miniskirt made such an impact on society. But I can't make the connection between fashion and how the story ends. I don't even know how one causes the other to happen, at least in the context of this story.
Maybe we're not supposed to know. The effects of fashion on society can take time, so maybe we don't yet have the full picture, but what I struggled with the most was how, in the midst of a nuclear winter, anyone even cared about fashion at all. Moore effectively uses clothing as a thematic element in the story -- in one scene, the common people are having to disrobe and burn their clothes because they can't change their clothes often, and they wind up accumulating radiation and posing a hazard -- but he also shows us news crews that are still obsessed with what this new designer is creating. Is it a statement on the media and how they focus on unimportant stories when people only want to hear about the important things? And is the ending supposed to be a reflection of the public's awakening to what's really happening?
I actually like this book, in part because it made me think, but I don't love it. It hearkens back to when Moore had a command of the comics genre, and reminds me of when he was at his peak with Watchmen and Swamp Thing. Maybe it's due to my lack of interest in fashion that it doesn't have more of an effect on me, but it just didn't capture me like I was hoping it would. At the very least, it doesn't disappoint.
Of note is Malcolm McLaren's name on the cover. For those of you who don't know, he's the man who created the Sex Pistols, partly as a means to sell the clothes he featured in his boutique. Seeing his name on the cover wasn't a surprise, really, knowing that he was attached to fashion, but it came as a surprise that he came up with this story.
Moore writes a foreword telling a little about the history of the story -- McLaren wanted to create movies, and had some ideas that he wanted to have fleshed out by a comic book writer, which is how Moore became involved -- but it's hard to tell how much of the story was his, and how much Moore put into it. It feels very much like a Moore work, so my guess is McLaren had an outline that Moore used as a foundation, but the foreword doesn't answer that question.
The story was written in the 1980s, during the Cold War, and a lot of the fears of that era are ensconced in the story. It focuses on Doll, a hat check girl who gets fired and then winds up being the model for a famous designer, Celestine, the designer, and a young androgynous character who is responsible for dressing Doll. The three of them serve as a dysfunctional dynamic against the backdrop of nuclear winter. Ultimately, their story is one of revolution, using fashion as the means for that revolution. It winds up being very strange.
Since this is an Alan Moore work, the story includes a few speeches on the purpose of fashion, all of which are well-reasoned and convincing. They reminded me a bit of the speech that Meryl Streep's character gives in The Devil Wears Prada, when she talks about the effect of fashion on other aspects of our lives, though this story predates the movie by several years. I'm the sort of person who, for the most part, doesn't care what he looks like (though I at least try to match most of the time), but even I can see that side of the argument. I can even see the connection between fashion and revolution, like how the bikini and the miniskirt made such an impact on society. But I can't make the connection between fashion and how the story ends. I don't even know how one causes the other to happen, at least in the context of this story.
Maybe we're not supposed to know. The effects of fashion on society can take time, so maybe we don't yet have the full picture, but what I struggled with the most was how, in the midst of a nuclear winter, anyone even cared about fashion at all. Moore effectively uses clothing as a thematic element in the story -- in one scene, the common people are having to disrobe and burn their clothes because they can't change their clothes often, and they wind up accumulating radiation and posing a hazard -- but he also shows us news crews that are still obsessed with what this new designer is creating. Is it a statement on the media and how they focus on unimportant stories when people only want to hear about the important things? And is the ending supposed to be a reflection of the public's awakening to what's really happening?
I actually like this book, in part because it made me think, but I don't love it. It hearkens back to when Moore had a command of the comics genre, and reminds me of when he was at his peak with Watchmen and Swamp Thing. Maybe it's due to my lack of interest in fashion that it doesn't have more of an effect on me, but it just didn't capture me like I was hoping it would. At the very least, it doesn't disappoint.
woowottreads's review
3.0
I got this because, y'know, Alan Moore. I've read precious little besides Watchmen and the first volume of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I always kinda like it, but I don't really get the big deal. I would say the same with this. I thought the Beauty and the Beast meets fashion premise was interesting. And it was, it certainly was. It had some lovely bits to it. And I realize it was originally written in the 80s, so some elements might be dated, although not as badly as it could be. Mostly, I didn't care for the female characters. Almost all of them are self-serving and unpleasant. Doll becomes more so as the story unfolds. And that's a pity, because I quite liked her in the very beginning. I also found the ending to be a bit abrupt, but I often find Western comic endings to be awkward. Maybe I've grown used to the way Eastern comic stories unfold. The art was good but not stunning. So I supposed I enjoyed this, but it wasn't my favorite.
lushrain's review
4.0
Love Moore's writing and this is a good intro to Moore with out the heaviness of a Watchmen. Beautiful artwork.
iblamewizards's review
4.0
A departure from Moore's normal works, 'Fashion Beast' is a dark and macabre trek through Beauty and the Beast with a dystopian setting of haute couture.
Fashion Beast cleverly plays with themes of gender, sexuality and vanity. It remains equally dark and squalid, yet still retains a sense of elegance, aided essentially by the stunning art style and execution.
The plot, while slightly rushed and ever so slightly underdeveloped in places, was both entertaining and poignant. While the characters were slightly narratively underdeveloped, the art more than made up for it, showing their development visually.
Fashion Beast was a stunning graphic novel. It shows just how much graphic novels as an art form have to offer.
Fashion Beast cleverly plays with themes of gender, sexuality and vanity. It remains equally dark and squalid, yet still retains a sense of elegance, aided essentially by the stunning art style and execution.
The plot, while slightly rushed and ever so slightly underdeveloped in places, was both entertaining and poignant. While the characters were slightly narratively underdeveloped, the art more than made up for it, showing their development visually.
Fashion Beast was a stunning graphic novel. It shows just how much graphic novels as an art form have to offer.