PDF Iron Or the War After SM Vidaurri 9781684152988 Books

Product details Paperback 160 pages Publisher Archaia (February 5, 2019) Language English ISBN-10 1684152984

Iron Or the War After SM Vidaurri 9781684152988 Books Reviews

• I would LOVE to give this book 5 stars... But while the illustrations are almost perfect, the story is not.
  
  I mean, I don't want to reveal anything about it, but I just really didn't like the story. trying to evade the cliches, it transformed itself in a very big one.
  
  The illustrations are very good, though although there are a few lines there that are supposed to be the wind that sometimes ruin it a little bit (you'll see it when you read it).
  
  I don't regret buying this book because I am an illustrator and a collector, but I have a very hard time finishing the book.
• I pre-ordered this graphic novel last April the instant I saw the artwork, and I devoured it the instant it finally shipped a few days ago. The artwork is entirely comprised of watercolor pieces that are simply breathtaking, sadly the story doesn't come close to the same level as the artwork. It is a basic tale of post-wartime rebellion and resistance told with anthropomorphic characters and feels a little rushed at times and a little hokey at others and is not very satisfying on any level. The publisher, Archaia, has a special place in my heart for the outstanding quality and effort they put into their books and this is no exception, the cloth-covered hardcover is a thing of beauty and they never fail to impress me. A good effort with gorgeous artwork and not a lot else though.
• Highly recommend this beautiful, well written book. The art work is gorgeous and captures the mood of the story. Can't wait to see more from this amazing artist!
• Ambitious concept that is well executed. It's one of those books that you re read as soon as your done with it.
• Gripping graphic novel that examines of the costs of war, starting with the theft of secret information by a resistance fighter. The ramifications of that theft spill out and touch many lives, even those who aren't on a "side," if the sides here even mean anything given how destructive their war is - and given that Vidaurri is much more interested in the effects of the war than in the particulars of how it started and supposedly ended, but continues to hurt people even still. It's tense at times, appropriately sorrowful, and the art is a perfect match with its minimalism and muted colors. I think watercolor, with maybe some pencil too?
  
  A must-read, and luckily it's being reprinted soon! There's only so many times I can legitimately check out our library's battered copy...
• The book description above does this work a great disservice. I expected cutesy animal heads on human bodies, a pedestrian story, and mostly a gimmick sort of effect. Boy, was I wrong.
  
  First off, the reference to "a world of constant winter". The delicate pastel drawings perfectly establish an atmosphere of cold, damp, wintry despair. There is a feeling of desolation - physical and emotional. Everything creates a sense of repression, failed revolution and hopelessness. I'm not quite sure how mere drawings establish such a grim and chilly feeling, but there it is.
  
  Next, the characters are brilliantly realized. These aren't Beatrix Potter heads on carelessly drawn human bodies. Each character is a complete, although bipedal, animal form. There is one drawing in particular that encapsulates this. It's of the rabbit character. He is lying in his underwear on a cold cot talking to someone. Every detail of his form is expressive of his despair, but he is clearly an exhausted six foot tall rabbit who also looks like a person and who has a completely humanoid identity. The effect is stunning.
  
  The plot is very "Spy Who Came in From the Cold", and that's fine. It doesn't exactly break any new ground in the world of cold war fiction, but of course that doesn't really seem to be the point of the project. The story is compelling enough, and the characters are finely realized enough to keep you engaged.
  
  The upshot is that I found this to be a spare, chilly, evocative and admirable work, and wholly distinct from anything else I've encountered in the world of graphic novels. Of all of the books I've read and reviewed recently this is one of the ones that keeps slipping back in to my thoughts. I don't see how it gets much better than that.
  
  Please note that I received a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a frank review.
• This is another graphic novel that imagines the characters as animals, but isn't a funny animal story. I guess that makes it a serious animal story.
  
  A rabbit steals a document. A bird in a suit and a tiger (?) in a suit go after him. They quarrel about the wisdom of continuing to fight a war that has ended. A goat is supposed to blow up a train but he's kind of a drunken old goat so his trustworthiness is questionable. The rabbit's son picks up where the rabbit left off (a chip off the old hare?). The boy rabbit and his rabbit sister get sent to an orphanage, then the rabbit's son is threatened so he won't testify against the bird in the suit. The rabbit's son needs to search within himself for the courage to tell the truth about this father's fate. There's never much doubt about the outcome, in part because the characters are underdeveloped. When characters aren't multifaceted, it's pretty clear that they'll follow the obvious path.
  
  The text-heavy story overshadows the subtle artwork. With all that text, the story should less confusing, and more compelling, than it turns out to be. A melodramatic courtroom scene doesn't work very well, in part because the conspirator-prosecutor is so obviously manipulating the witness that the judges would have to be blind not to see it. The frosty art is nice -- each panel looks like it belongs on a Norwegian Christmas plate -- but the point of populating this world with talking animals eludes me. Even if the story were about humans, I wouldn't believe it.