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A review by brizreading
Ich bin Fagin by Will Eisner
4.0
Essentially fanfic that tries to correct some of the blatantly anti-Semitic stereotyping in Dickens.
This is my third Eisner (after this and this), and I think I like this one least so far. The writing risks teetering into heavy-handedness a few times, and I found the pacing a bit whirlwind. We follow Moses Fagin - who would become the infamous "Fagin the Jew" of Oliver Twist - from his birth, through various misfortunes, until he gets to his present position. It's incredibly interesting from the historical perspective: I didn't know, for example, that the British Jewish community - at least of the 19th century - was made up of established, wealthier Sephardic Jews who had immigrated in the 15th century (?), and poorer Ashkenazi Jews who had emigrated from eastern Europe following the 19th century pogroms. Industrial Revolution-era London is also always fascinating from a development economist's perspective.
But! In addition to the writing and pacing, I also preferred Eisner's art in the New York City stories: the lines are sharper, cleaner, bolder. Here, everything is watery and blurred: sometimes this is evocative and nice, such as the panels of Fagin at the docks (with the monochrome watercolors fading with the perspective, as look over bobbing ships, seagulls, and the water - v nice), or the panel of Fagin with the locket portrait of his younger self (this panel also dripped with schmaltz, though).
This is my third Eisner (after this and this), and I think I like this one least so far. The writing risks teetering into heavy-handedness a few times, and I found the pacing a bit whirlwind. We follow Moses Fagin - who would become the infamous "Fagin the Jew" of Oliver Twist - from his birth, through various misfortunes, until he gets to his present position. It's incredibly interesting from the historical perspective: I didn't know, for example, that the British Jewish community - at least of the 19th century - was made up of established, wealthier Sephardic Jews who had immigrated in the 15th century (?), and poorer Ashkenazi Jews who had emigrated from eastern Europe following the 19th century pogroms. Industrial Revolution-era London is also always fascinating from a development economist's perspective.
But! In addition to the writing and pacing, I also preferred Eisner's art in the New York City stories: the lines are sharper, cleaner, bolder. Here, everything is watery and blurred: sometimes this is evocative and nice, such as the panels of Fagin at the docks (with the monochrome watercolors fading with the perspective, as look over bobbing ships, seagulls, and the water - v nice), or the panel of Fagin with the locket portrait of his younger self (this panel also dripped with schmaltz, though).