Michel Rabagliati

Un album dans le genre « coming of age ». Paul est un ado paumé et en révolte contre le monde, il se cherche... et se trouve grâce à un travail dans un camp de vacances lors d’un été. J’ai trouvé l’oeuvre vraiment poignante. Rabagliati n’a pas peur de représenter Paul avec tous ses travers et dans toute sa vulnérabilité. Les portraits de tous les personnages semblent justes et sont très vivants. J’ai eu les larmes aux yeux plusieurs fois en lisant comment Paul grandit show more au contact des jeunes du camp. Super roman graphique dans la tradition de l’autofiction ! show less

How can you not love Paul? He starts out as a high school dropout, winds up working at a printing shop, and then quits his job on a whim to fill a recently vacated position of camp counselor. Completely divorced from his cushy homelife, Paul begins to learn how good he's had it as he encounters a series of campers who've had some hard knocks but take life in stride. To top it off, Paul falls in love with his teammate--hey, you've got to have a summer love while at camp! The ending is show more fantastic, drawing the story back in on itself--easily one of my favorite graphic novels I've read this year. show less

A very affable autobiographical (-style?) tale told with charm and wit. It's not groundbreaking stuff, but there's a calmness of tone and precision of eye here that's comforting. The final act seems to come out of nowhere, and while it's true that real life is often like that, it's also true that real life isn't always great art.

Didnt realize until I went to write up this review that this was the third book in a series. Ooops. Very readable as a standalone though, and since I picked this up second hand Im cutting myself some slack.

I liked the art in this book, and found it to be an interesting look at the Montreal art world of the 80's. The setting is made distinct by regional references and french signs and backgrounds and is both serious and comical. However it shares an issue that Tintin, the comic the book show more frequently references, also suffers from; casual racism. Drawings and depictions rely on stereotypes and the white characters in the book express disgust/confusion about other cultures. While its certainly not the focus of the book it did affect my enjoyment of the story.

One other (slightly nitpicky) thing I didnt like about this book was the fact that the characters smoked cigarettes around their pet bird. Just made me cringe. show less