Roberto Macedo Alves

Today I received this –

– pretty prophetic, considering the Conflicts that arose and were finished today!

I grew up in the tradition of nice Arthur Conan Doyle stories and the Sherlock Holmes mythos.

I had fun with Arsène Lupin and the Countess of Cagliostro and Raffles and Rocambole.

But, now that I think of it, I am not really a big fan of most of the crime comics I’ve read… until recently. The usual crime story opening, stuff like: “The night’s as hot as hell. It’s a lousy room in a lousy part of a lousy town – I’m staring at a goddess. She’s telling me she wants me. I’m not going to waste one more minute wondering how I’ve gotten this lucky” might bore me, unless the artwork is virtuoso enough. I enjoyed Frank Miller’s SIN CITY (one of the most widely known noir comcis), for example, but some of those speech balloons, being read aloud, just sound somewhat silly. The stories are entertaining, true,  but we cannot find much depth there. Graphical virtuosity and entertainment, but not many content layers.

And probably that is one of the reasons why crime comics are considered “inferior” to crime prose novels.

However, there is one notable exception: KICKBACK, written and drawn by David Lloyd, creator of V for Vendetta!

The first words of that Graphic Novel are unlike the usual beginning of a crime comic. No lousy rooms, no lousy parts of a lousy town, just a talk about a dream, from an unseen narrator: “Okay. I will tell you about it. I’m in a dark warehouse… at least., that’s what it feels like… there’s ironwork — spears of metal — all around me… I’m on a catwalk that’s too narrow to turn around on, so I start to make my way along it in the direction I’m facing… ahead of me, it seems to grow narrower… I can’t see to the end of it… then, as I move along it, I see someone coming towards me… I try to make out who it is, but there’s a kind of mist…“. I thought it was a great way to begin a crime novel. With the description of a dream that is also an essential part of the story in many ways.

First, because this dream is like a metaphor of what the protagonist is going through. Joe Canelli feels he is going in one direction, but would that be the correct one? The pathway in his dream offers no other choices. After all, the protagonist of KICKBACK is a corrupt policeman – because everyone else in that town with a position of authority seems to be corrupt… but to say that KICKBACK is a story about a corrupt cop in a corrupt city would be an understatement, because the story is much more complex and interesting than that. This dream is just a small segment of one of the several layers of meaning and complexity that form the narrative of this very entertaning work.

In the beginning of this review, I said that I was not a big fan of crime comics, because many times, they feel hollow and clichéd (even when virtuously drawn) – but KICKBACK is different, it is not only a crime comic, it is a intrincate story, about guilt, about dreams, about progres

s, about corruption. And that is curious, because in a way, the content has some parallells with V FOR VENDETTA – mostly when we talk about corruption, even if we are talking about a different kind of corruption.

There is much more going on in KICKBACK and I do not want to talk too much about some of those layers, to avoid spoiling part of the relevant content of the book. However, it is a great story that offers us lots of food for thought: about listening to our conscience, about the value of old people’s wisdom, about the moral value of doing what everyone else does – and much more, all wrapped up in a nice mystery with lots of action drawn in the magnificently detailed and deep style David Lloyd had already shown us in previous works like V FOR VENDETTA, but with digital improvements this time. And they make quite a difference in the storytelling: from the rain to speed blurs, the nice classical touch of Lloyd’s artwork just blends naturally with some of the digital touches.

So, to conclude this small review, the world of KICKBACK feels like a believable place, where not everything (or everyone) is just black and white and each character feels like a real, complex person. This is not your usual crime comic. This is a crime comic that a thinking man will enjoy, as rich and deep and entertaining and complex as any prose novel. I’ve always been a fan of David Lloyd, and this work, drawn and written by him is a worthy addition to the collection of anyone – comic collector, demanding reader or crime novels aficionado. An Unmissable Book, without a doubt!

	I recommend…
	Kickback David Lloyd (Hardcover – Aug 30,… $12.95 The Crime Comic for the Thinking Man! Privacy

Sometimes, is hard to create, arrange, organize something. Sometimes, is hard to help a friend. Sometimes, we have to deal with envious people. And sometimes, we have to deal with sick people. And sometimes, we even have to deal with mentally deranged people. But that’s not their fault.

Sometimes is difficult, sometimes is annoying, but in the end, is always FUN.

We managed to gather for a nice collective installation a group of talented young people, that devoted themselves to illustrate their favorite books. On t-shirts.

A nice, fresh, interesting view at the “summer reading suggestions” concept.

Here are some (small) samples of the work produced:

I am writing this lines minutes after leaving Colleen Doran at Funchal Airport, making sure everything is ok so she can return to the USA and back to work.

Now, one more book fair has concluded. But this one was definitely the best EVER. We had two really fantastic guests (and my gratitude to the organizers of the Book Fair and the “Funchal 500 anos” organization will be forever on Display).

The visit of our delightful guests this year, has been one of the most wonderful memories and experiences to me. Ever. This has been really really unforgettable.

Our fist guest was renowned national author  José Carlos Fernandes, and we did a presentation session of his latest book “O que está escrito nas Estrelas” (what is written on the stars) – and he did lots of signings, including one for me that included for the first time, the Constellation of the Rhino:

Our second guest of this book fair was an unforgettable delight. After knowing her work since the early nineties, I finally had the pleasure of meeting personally the wonderful Colleen Doran, who shared her insightful advise with the local comic fans, she was with us for the “12 Hour Comics Day” and did also lots of book signings. The best seller of the fair was actually her series of books “A DISTANT SOIL” (if someone never read it, I strongly suggest they should!) and all the books she signed included lovely sketches. All fan loved her visit, I had the marvelous experience of talking with her for HOURS about everything, from Opera to Comics to Books to Harlan Ellison – and I have to admit that few things are sweeter than having Colleen calling me “my buddy”

Actually, I don’t know if I have words to say how important that visit was, or how wonderful a person Colleen is. I learned a lot, laughed a lot, and now I see what Neil Gaiman meant when he was saying on his blog that she has the most “delicious dirty laugh”. He is absolutely right. I will be forever glad that she accepted our invitation to visit us.

Thank you so much, Colleen! These were really really 10 wonderful days. It was really an honor to be a host to a guest so graceful and nice as you!

And finally, I also received on the mail, the latest Chuck Palahniuk book, signed by the author, with one of the most strange dedications I ever received on a book:

I won’t confirm or deny anything. And certainly I won’t be forgetting this book fair anytime soon!