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A review by joshgauthier
Bliss by Sean Lewis
5.0
In a dark urban fantasy world where gods live at the docks and manipulate the humans around them, a mysterious drug steals memories while a father and son reckon with the trauma and the trail of bodies keeping them apart.
With gorgeous, emotive art from Yarsky and Pluchinsky, and deeply complex writing from Lewis, Bliss showcases some of the best of what graphic novels have to offer. Across its nonlinear narrative, the story builds its grim world of gods walking among humans, of a mystical drug called bliss, and the lives both preserved and destroyed by its existence. On one level, Bliss is the gritty story of a man so desperate to save his son that he makes a bargain with the gods who will cause his destruction. But even deeper than this, it is the story of a son, years later, forced to balance memories of a murder alongside love for the man who raised him--who gave so much to keep him alive.
Mythic and deeply personal, Bliss is a story of trauma, of justice and redemption--it is a story that stares into the uncertain boundaries that form where good men do terrible things, or perhaps bad men do good things. It is a story that wonders how we love or forgive those that have caused us pain. And ultimately, it is a story that recognizes these questions do not have easy answers.
Bliss is a fascinating crime noir fantasy, it is a complex family drama, and it is ultimately a heartfelt examination of the lives we live and the legacies we leave behind.
With gorgeous, emotive art from Yarsky and Pluchinsky, and deeply complex writing from Lewis, Bliss showcases some of the best of what graphic novels have to offer. Across its nonlinear narrative, the story builds its grim world of gods walking among humans, of a mystical drug called bliss, and the lives both preserved and destroyed by its existence. On one level, Bliss is the gritty story of a man so desperate to save his son that he makes a bargain with the gods who will cause his destruction. But even deeper than this, it is the story of a son, years later, forced to balance memories of a murder alongside love for the man who raised him--who gave so much to keep him alive.
Mythic and deeply personal, Bliss is a story of trauma, of justice and redemption--it is a story that stares into the uncertain boundaries that form where good men do terrible things, or perhaps bad men do good things. It is a story that wonders how we love or forgive those that have caused us pain. And ultimately, it is a story that recognizes these questions do not have easy answers.
Bliss is a fascinating crime noir fantasy, it is a complex family drama, and it is ultimately a heartfelt examination of the lives we live and the legacies we leave behind.