Flood! A Novel In Pictures (1993)

Not really sure what I thought of this, but I know it wasn't quite what I was hoping for (not that I know what THAT is, exactly, either). I can recognize the skill in the art, but it still doesn't do anything for me.

The work displays the journey of one man and the life that he lives over different time periods. It's a tale of destruction, of energy, and oddly enough of hope in some ways. The last chapter is the longest and the most powerful as the man creates a story about the world at its ending, while the world ends around him. It has heartbreaking depictions and a feral energy to a man calling for the world's end. The artist in the story is so obsessed with finishing his work even as the water builds and floods his apartment he still goes back to finish one last mark, although the work will be lost.

The author tells us that he created the book over three different time periods which brings so much more vitality and energy to the work than if he had created in one time period. His thought processes, his ideas, his very way of creating changes over these time periods so it makes for a much, much more powerful work of art. The most exciting aspect of this book to me is the illustrations. They look like woodcarvings but the author tells us that he did them with scratchboard. A similar process to woodcarving, but much more difficult in some ways. The images in the first part of the book are exciting, because of the vitality and almost feral energy in them. Even more impressive to me is that he was able to depict graffiti on a subway train and have it look real. I was blown away by how much time and planning it must have taken to be able to do this. The second half of the book his scratchboard incorporates adds a new color to the scheme, blue, to give it more depth and energy and create even more powerful images.

This is a powerful book and it gives us a reminder of the types of stories that can be created without words. It is a must read and study for anyone, especially those hoping to get into the graphic industry themselves. ( )

Eric Drooker's woodcut-like drawings create a moving and dark graphic novel completely devoid of words but rich and powerful in story and emotion. In it, we have the loneliness of being in a city teaming with people while both a single life and the lives of strangers crumble for reasons unknown while no one seems to care to ask or know why these soul suffer. It is sheer elegance in the honesty found in its silence. The titular flood is a literal thing from the sky and in a figurative emotional upheaval. I find it hard to explain why this is so moving, but it is in a way that proves that graphic novels are more than just simple words slapped on a few pictures. Drooker demonstrates in no uncertain terms that the art is not just an enhancement, but a fully functioning element capable of telling a story on its own. ( )