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The Tourist
Book Released: 12 April 2006
Review posted: 30 April 2006
Writer: Brian Wood
Artist: Toby Cypress
Publisher: Image Comics
5.00 out of 5 Stars
Reviewed by Matt Rawson
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Granting The Tourist a high rating feels a bit superfluous, due to the fact
the name Brian Wood should already ensure that this book would get full
marks. I’m not saying the guy is incapable of delivering a
stinker — everyone is entitled to a few bombs here and there — he just
hasn’t done it yet. Project after project, Wood delivers, with a little
extra pepper more than his peers. He also knows how to choose his artists;
every artist selected for Wood’s books has fit the project like a
silk glove filled with Vaseline and honey.
The Tourist is yet another fantastic example of Wood’s
storytelling ability; he comes in strong, lays the pipe, and leaves
without even offering to cook you some eggs. The protagonist is a fellow
named Moss, a three-dimensional, sympathetic, yet flawed character
that offers a real sense that he existed before the first page.
Wood has given us a believable human being forced to make a decision
that will alter his life in a way he didn’t expect. Moss is a
character that could feasibly appear in sequels to The Tourist, as
well as prequels, because Wood gives us just enough of a glimpse of his past
to whet our appetites for the larger story at hand. All that is fine and dandy,
but what it all boils down to is that Moss is a damn interesting guy.
Wood comes in strong, lays the pipe, and leaves
without even offering to cook you some eggs.
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Although there is plenty of action in The Tourist, it is not
a “hero vs villain” tale in the traditional sense — it is about a man
with a well conceived plan struggling against not only himself, but how
that plan will affect those about whom he cares. It’s a heist story
with little emphasis on the heist and a hell of a lot on character
dynamics, combined with some notions of cause and effect.
With the visuals, Toby Cypress blows open the doors on this one
with a style as fluid as Craig Thompson (Blankets) and as loose as
Guy Davis (BPRD). He gives the characters motion as well as
emotion. I can read what Moss is thinking just by the way Cypress composes
his face and renders his movement. Cypress’s minimal application
of detail works wonders for the remote feel of the book as well. After I
finished The Tourist, I went back through it and read the
visuals alone to take in each beautiful line. Besides,
Cypress’s art is just damn fun to look at! You can see his
brushstrokes and where his pen was lifted off the page. You can see the exact
moment when he thought, “Alright, that’s enough there.”
Cypress’s artwork adds as much to Moss’s humanity as any of the text.
Cypress’s artwork adds as much to Moss’s humanity as any of the text.
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If you are already a Brian Wood fan, then good for you, and you
will not be disappointed by The Tourist. If you have yet to be
introduced to his work, The Tourist is a good place to start. Bottom
line, go buy The Tourist. You'll like it. Then go out and get
everything else either of these creators touch. I know you’ll not regret it.
—CCdC—
Cover image used without explicit permission in accordance with the "Fair Use" provision of US copyright law.
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