|
|
|
Sloth
Book Released: 19 July 2006
Posted 12 August 2006
Writer: Gilbert Hernandez
Artist: Gilbert Hernandez
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo
5.00 out of 5 Stars
Reviewed by Adam White
|
|
This marks Adam’s 100th published review!
Having never read any work from the Hernandez Bros. before, I don’t know what motivated me to pick up the new
Sloth hardcover from Gilbert Hernandez. I did find the cover visually interesting, and the brief description of the
story seemed to get my attention, so I thought what the heck.
With Sloth, Gilbert Hernandez has created a stirring look inside the teenage mind and encapsulated it in an
attractive hardcover volume. Hernandez nails the dialogue and
Gilbert Hernandez has created a stirring look inside the teenage mind and encapsulated it in an
attractive hardcover volume.
|
interactions between teens, creating memorable characters that are realistic and likable. By switching perspectives and main
characters at certain points in the book, Hernandez deftly parallels the themes in the story with his overall storytelling
method. Although some of the turning points in the book create some level of confusion, it works for the story because it
relates to the confusion found during one’s teenage years.
Hernandez backs up his compelling story with outstanding visuals, all the more affecting in glorious black & white.
Hernandez masterfully captures characters’ expressions, showing the full range of
human emotion over the course of the book. The only other artist I have seen with such expressiveness is the great Kevin
Maguire, and Hernandez matches his skill while maintaining his own inimitable style. Whether in the lemon orchard searching
for a goat-like creature or at the kitchen table with grandparents, the characters live in the panels, changing and growing
in the pages contained in this altogether too brief hardcover full of as much emotion in the art as in the writing.
Considering how very few original graphic novels make their way to publication, readers should jump on great books like
Sloth. Even the wait-for-the-trade numbskulls should be satisfied with a done-in-one hardcover book like
Sloth, and the fact that it is of impeccable quality should only help the matter. Sloth should be required reading
for people aged 16-20, and very much recommended for everyone over that age. Hernandez’s wonderful writing and art
perfectly complement his examination of the increasingly disenchanted youth of American society, a subject that too few
people explore and even fewer do so well.
—CCdC—
Cover image used without explicit permission in accordance with the "Fair Use" provision of US copyright law.
|
|
