A clever take on history turns a famed artist into a flawed and fascinating hero fighting for acceptance.
Mora’s graphic novel highlights the illicit romances and dramatic adventures of celebrated Baroque painter Michelangelo Caravaggio.
In Milan, 1591, Michelangelo Caravaggio has made a name for himself as both a skilled painter and a dangerous troublemaker. After seeing a dear friend burned at the stake for sodomy by the Inquisition, Caravaggio and his male lover Mario are desperate to flee the city (“Perhaps this is fate, telling me to leave Milan”). Impetuous and angry, Caravaggio begins slicing his way through the town to collect debts, making a dangerous enemy in Cavaliere Fabrizio along the way. After relocating to Rome, Caravaggio creates bewitching art that challenges perceptions of the church, but he also continues to find conflict in the streets. As Caravaggio’s temper draws more and more dangerous enemies, he and Mario must once again flee. They soon find themselves welcomed in Malta by a certain Fabrizio and his patron, Cavaliere di Giustizia. They pretend to love his art, but they are in fact the same men who tried to kill him in Milan years earlier, and they plan to use Caravaggio for their own political gain. With their take on Caravaggio, Mora and illustrator Mescaria subvert fusty ideas about classical painters, creating a queer, swashbuckling adventurer. Images of Caravaggio’s lithe, muscled figure against shadowy, gothic backdrops call to mind a fantasy hero more than a historical figure, while the story and exquisite artwork deliver one action-packed scene after another. The impact of Caravaggio’s art is addressed, especially in the Rome section, which works in some fascinating context about changing styles, but Mora is primarily focused on the doomed lovers and their cat-and-mouse game with various authorities. Some of the political intrigue and shifting motivations are a bit hard to follow, but those concerns are quickly swept aside as this unique and exciting version of Caravaggio repeatedly—and sometimes foolishly—charges into battle for the one he loves.
A clever take on history turns a famed artist into a flawed and fascinating hero fighting for acceptance.Pub Date: June 15, 2020
ISBN: 9781913359560
Page Count: 182
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Jan. 31, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
Even so, this remains Macbeth, arguably the Bard of Avon’s most durable and multilayered tragedy, and overall, this enhanced...
A pairing of the text of the Scottish Play with a filmed performance, designed with the Shakespeare novice in mind.
The left side of the screen of this enhanced e-book contains a full version of Macbeth, while the right side includes a performance of the dialogue shown (approximately 20 lines’ worth per page). This granular focus allows newcomers to experience the nuances of the play, which is rich in irony, hidden intentions and sudden shifts in emotional temperature. The set and costuming are deliberately simple: The background is white, and Macbeth’s “armor” is a leather jacket. But nobody’s dumbing down their performances. Francesca Faridany is particularly good as a tightly coiled Lady Macbeth; Raphael Nash-Thompson gives his roles as the drunken porter and a witch a garrulousness that carries an entertainingly sinister edge. The presentation is not without its hiccups. Matching the video on the right with the text on the left means routinely cutting off dramatic moments; at one point, users have to swipe to see and read the second half of a scene’s closing couplet—presumably an easy fix. A “tap to translate” button on each page puts the text into plain English, but the pop-up text covers up Shakespeare’s original, denying any attempts at comparison; moreover, the translation mainly redefines more obscure words, suggesting that smaller pop-ups for individual terms might be more meaningful.
Even so, this remains Macbeth, arguably the Bard of Avon’s most durable and multilayered tragedy, and overall, this enhanced e-book makes the play appealing and graspable to students . (Enhanced e-book. 12 & up)Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2013
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: The New Book Press LLC
Review Posted Online: Nov. 6, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2013
Immensely enjoyable.
The debut graphic novel from Mohamed presents a modern Egypt full of magical realism where wishes have been industrialized and heavily regulated.
The story opens with a televised public service announcement from the General Committee of Wish Supervision and Licensing about the dangers of “third-class wishes”—wishes that come in soda cans and tend to backfire on wishers who aren’t specific enough (like a wish to lose weight resulting in limbs falling from the wisher’s body). Thus begins a brilliant play among magic, the mundane, and bureaucracy that centers around a newsstand kiosk where a devout Muslim is trying to unload the three “first-class wishes” (contained in elegant glass bottles and properly licensed by the government) that have come into his possession, since he believes his religion forbids him to use them. As he gradually unloads the first-class wishes on a poor, regretful widow (who then runs afoul of authorities determined to manipulate her out of her valuable commodity) and a university student who seeks a possibly magical solution to their mental health crisis (but struggles with whether a wish to always be happy might have unintended consequences), interstitials give infographic histories of wishes, showing how the Western wish-industrial complex has exploited the countries where wishes are mined (largely in the Middle East). The book is exceptionally imaginative while also being wonderfully grounded in touching human relationships, existential quandaries, and familiar geopolitical and socio-economic dynamics. Mohamed’s art balances perfectly between cartoon and realism, powerfully conveying emotions, and her strong, clean lines gorgeously depict everything from an anguished face to an ornate bottle. Charts and graphs nicely break up the reading experience while also concisely building this larger world of everyday wishes. Mohamed has a great sense of humor, which comes out in footnotes and casual asides throughout.
Immensely enjoyable.Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-524-74841-8
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
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