Tim Bird (3)

The author pays tribute to his mother, an amateur painter, by making a graphic novel about her death and including a bunch of her paintings throughout to finally bring her work to a wider audience.

It's not bad or anything and is obviously well-intentioned, but I've read books about grief that felt more moving and/or universal. Actually, it did feel a little odd at times, seeming more like a something you'd see from a vanity press or maybe from an art gallery trying to attract speculators to show more their inventory.

(Best of 2024 Project: I'm reading all the graphic novels that made it onto one or more of these lists:
• Washington Post 10 Best Graphic Novels of 2024
• Publishers Weekly 2024 Graphic Novel Critics Poll
• NPR's Books We Love 2024: Favorite Comics and Graphic Novels

This book made the NPR list.) show less

A magical, poetic eulogy to an old growth forest south of London that was done in by rampant woodcutting and urban sprawl frames the somewhat random bits of lore tucked in between. This may make sense to someone with more familiarity with the area, but too much left me wondering, "What's that got to do with anything?" Made me a little sad, but also left me giving a little shrug too much of the time.

I loved this, it's beautiful. I can't believe how well it balances a kind of journalism with fantasy and poetry. It's exactly right.