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nickdouglas's review
3.0
Magical, though a little less satisfying than I'd hoped after reading this comic in my city's alt weekly during high school. It's a bit like "Invisible Cities" for 20th Century America. Smart introduction by Michael Chabon.
davybaby's review
4.0
I would be hard-pressed to come up with a less intriguing title than this one. Nothing screams obnoxious independent comic like an obstinately boring title, so I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.
I picked it up after reading Michael Chabon's essay about it in [b:Maps and Legends|1844499|Maps and Legends|Michael Chabon|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1328694310s/1844499.jpg|2905134], and was quite impressed. While many of the strips include Julius Knipl, he is more an observer of Katchor's surreal city than a participant. Knipl walks a city of nostalgia, of melancholy workmen whose livelihoods are crumbling. But lest it seem overly serious, the occupations, businesses, and lifestyles that fill the city are imaginary. It is a city brimming with connoisseurs of smoked cigarette butts, theater critics focusing on tour bus presentations, building-wide liquid soap heists, penitentiary amusement parks, nail-biting salons, and virtuosos who play old radiators to packed apartments.
The art is its own homage to bygone days, with the square bodies and shadow washes of Dick Tracy. It's a far cry from most contemporary comic art, not least because you'd have a hard time finding a single attractive character in the book. They all have character and personality, but they can at time blend together.
There is a beautiful irony to a work so nostalgic for a time that is unabashedly fictional. Katchor's acceptance of a fact that so often eludes the nostalgic is charming and commendable. Add to this his poetic phrasing and absurdly odd perspective, and you have a delightful read on your hands. As far as graphic fiction goes, however, Katchor's work is fairly dense. He writes with a subtlety that is rare, even among good graphic fiction.
If you find a copy somewhere, flip through it. Each strip stands on its own, and you can see if Katchor's old-timey city dreamscape is the kind of place you'd like to spend some time. I know I enjoyed my trip.
I picked it up after reading Michael Chabon's essay about it in [b:Maps and Legends|1844499|Maps and Legends|Michael Chabon|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1328694310s/1844499.jpg|2905134], and was quite impressed. While many of the strips include Julius Knipl, he is more an observer of Katchor's surreal city than a participant. Knipl walks a city of nostalgia, of melancholy workmen whose livelihoods are crumbling. But lest it seem overly serious, the occupations, businesses, and lifestyles that fill the city are imaginary. It is a city brimming with connoisseurs of smoked cigarette butts, theater critics focusing on tour bus presentations, building-wide liquid soap heists, penitentiary amusement parks, nail-biting salons, and virtuosos who play old radiators to packed apartments.
The art is its own homage to bygone days, with the square bodies and shadow washes of Dick Tracy. It's a far cry from most contemporary comic art, not least because you'd have a hard time finding a single attractive character in the book. They all have character and personality, but they can at time blend together.
There is a beautiful irony to a work so nostalgic for a time that is unabashedly fictional. Katchor's acceptance of a fact that so often eludes the nostalgic is charming and commendable. Add to this his poetic phrasing and absurdly odd perspective, and you have a delightful read on your hands. As far as graphic fiction goes, however, Katchor's work is fairly dense. He writes with a subtlety that is rare, even among good graphic fiction.
If you find a copy somewhere, flip through it. Each strip stands on its own, and you can see if Katchor's old-timey city dreamscape is the kind of place you'd like to spend some time. I know I enjoyed my trip.
markfeltskog's review
Superb. Is Ben Katchor the (surrealist) Joseph Mitchell of graphic novels?
crowyhead's review against another edition
4.0
A series of one-page vignettes, some starring Julius Knipl, that take place in a city kind of like NYC, but more surreal. They're apparently set in the modern day, but everyone has a sort of 1950s look to them; the men tend to wear suits and hats, the women all wear dresses and heels. People buy perfume that smells like mundane things. They make maps of mud puddles. They go to bizarre concerts where music is made by a fake tongue lapping at cream. The stories are odd, whimsical, sometimes funny and sometimes oddly touching. Sometimes I found the briefness of each vignette to be a little taxing; I wanted to find out more, I wanted it to expand into a story, but most of them are sort of one-shot deals. The section titled "The Beauty Supply District" tells a story, but it's an odd one, with a lot of intertwined elements. This is a very strange comic collection, and I'm glad I read it, but I need to mull it over more, I think.
joraud's review
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
harvio's review
4.0
- I enjoyed this quirky adult cartoon collection and entirely agree with the book jacket's comparisons to both Proust and Kafka.
- The story lines are odd and dark, but undeniably unique.
- puts me in mind of Chris Ware ('Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid In The World') and Art Speigleman's 'Maus' and 'Maus II'
- The story lines are odd and dark, but undeniably unique.
- puts me in mind of Chris Ware ('Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid In The World') and Art Speigleman's 'Maus' and 'Maus II'
pearseanderson's review
4.0
Of course I picked this up after Chabon's recommendation, although his intro here seems super truncated. Maybe I didn't have the right version. This is a darling series of comics about the New York of metal lunchboxes, radio hosts, and obscure clubs. The aesthetic is just brilliant, and most of the comics were enlightening, although a handful fell flat, therefore giving this an 8 instead of a 9. Maybe I would've preferred a different art style, but hey, you get what you get, and I want more Knipl later in my life.
emilyinherhead's review
4.0
These comics are smart, specific, weird, sad, and funny, all at once. Some of my favorites were: “The Holey Pocket League,” “The Lay-Away Planner,” “The Siren Query Brigade,” “The Staple in the Danish,” “The Smell of the Post Office,” “The Stasis Day Parade,” “The Electric Eye,” and “The Evening Combinator.”
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