Red Colored Elegy by Seiichi Hayashi

Published by Drawn & Quarterly Books
Distributed by Raincoast Books

Red Colored Elegy tells the story of Ichiro and Sachiko, two people who live together (on and off) as they struggle to make ends meet, and dream of better days. For Ichiro those better days include becoming successful with his comics. For Sachiko, she simply longs for the day when the man she loves will propose marriage.

I love graphic novels. I love to explore the pages and different drawing styles of each author. At first I was a little thrown off by the faces that are sometimes missing, and the characters can have a 'super bendy' look that would cause any yoga expert to be green with envy. It's very easy to put that aside though as the reader gets drawn into the story by the turbulent and often dysfunctional lifestyle of this young couple.

I couldn't help but keep my hopes up that they would eventually manage to communicate to each other what they truly desire in life, even while I found myself greatly saddened by the constant struggle between the two characters. Seiichi Hayashi expresses so much in his artwork and though I could have read this book a lot more quickly than I did, I found myself lingering over each image and admiring the way the author can cause the emotional side of this story to leap out from each one.

For a preview, visit: http://www.drawnandquarterly.com/imagesPreview/a477d4683b76d3.pdf

This is definitely one of my favourites and I look forward to reading it again.

Gentleman Jim by Raymond Briggs

Published by Drawn & Quarterly Books
Distributed by Raincoast Books

Jim has a steady job working in the public toilets, a job he is really good at. During his breaks he takes time to read the papers and see what new job opportunities are available but it seems like every job needs 'levels' these days. Life was so much easier back in the days of the old west, or even during the times of Dick Turpin. Gosh those times looked exciting. After spending 12 years thinking about switching jobs, Jim finally decides to look at an alternative life and soon finds that although he has more excitement in his life now, it's not the good kind.

I loved this book. I fell in love with the work of Raymond Briggs when I first saw The Snowman (which I still have on DVD along with Father Christmas.) I hadn't heard of Gentleman Jim and was further surprised to see that it's one of the first graphic novels ever published. The illustrations are vivid, brilliant, wonderfully detailed and often rich and vibrant. The story itself is heartwarming and inspirational while also terribly sad in places. That said, it's also greatly entertaining and caused me to laugh out loud more than a few times.

Easily one of my favourite reads this year.

Preview can be seen at: http://www.drawnandquarterly.com/imagesPreview/a477d459beb320.pdf