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The Speed Abater
78 pgs
$13.95
From NBM Publishing
By Christophe Blain
Opinions are a dime a dozen. Here are two of them:
The Speed Abater is the best graphic novel of 2002 according to the attendees of the world's largest comics convention in France.
The Speed Abater is not the best graphic novel of 2002 according to this reviewer.
The back cover 'blurb' says that The Speed Abater is about a huge, ancient and obsolete boat, a destroyer. It is war, and the ship is dispatched to find an enemy submarine. Three novice sailors descend into the lowest reaches of the tub and discover its gigantic reduction gears.
That summary is true.
That same blurb claims that this is "a deeply human and highly unusual suspenseful tale by an exciting new talent". Uh-huh.
It is human, it is unusual, but it is not suspenseful, and this reviewer is not excited by this new talent.
This graphic novel is interesting but flawed. It is ponderous, not suspenseful, and a touch boring.
In addition, its art looks like a doodle on a canvas that is greatly enchanced by color.
Intentionally or unintentionally, the art looks Impressionistic in style.
If, as suspected by this reviewer, this story is allegorical and one layer concerns Deism (the idea that God wound-up the world like a clock and then left it to run by itself), then Speed Abater is also a flawed allegory about a flawed theory. The flaw is that the allegory is boring.
Boring is never good in literature.
To his credit, however, the author seems to debunk Deism.
If this review seems harsh, real potential deserves real guidance, and Speed Abater, even with flaws, is more than worth a read. MV
MINIVIEW: Stormfield by Wes Alexander. Entrenched in the tra-ditional approach to 'kid' comic strips, Stormfield's thick linework and gentle,gag-a-day humor deserves a visit to www.dbrmedia.com.
MV
Shudder at Vance's Light's End horror short stories narrated by actor William Windom at www.plan9.org.
Questions? Comment? E-Mail Suspended Animation at vance@digitalwebbing.com
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