Written by: Loo Hui Phang
Illustrations: Frederik Peeters
Coloring: Frederik Peeters
Publisher: Casterman
Een Beeld van een Jongen – Comic Book Review
Within a fairly short period of time we have reviewed a fair amount of comic books, many different genres and even different sizes and shapes. Nonetheless, sometimes there are a few titles you can’t properly place within a genre, because of how the story is approached in such albums. This time we have one of those albums, where the story first seems very normal but changes into something bizarre the further you progress. That being said, we were intrigued, surprised and we kind of liked it.
Oscar is a British fallen from grace photographer, who now finds himself in America. To at least get some sort of an income, he takes photographs of the Indian natives, who will be cleared out to make way for what in the Wild West was called the ‘New World’. Oscar had to flee England, because he scammed people by editing photos making it seem like the spirits of the deceased family members or friends of who he took pictures of were still around them, consoling people with lies. The second thing that made him flee the country was his relationship with another man – which was simply not done in those days – who later killed himself because he found his own actions ungodly.
Now Oscar finds himself in the company of Milton, a seventeen year old boy, and a brutish man named Stingley, who clearly has ulterior motives and simply wants to wipe out the indigenous tribes. It doesn’t take long before Oscar is attracted to Milton, and it seems the feeling is mutual, but Milton also has a secret of his own. To make things even worse, it seems a bounty hunter is tracking Oscar to take him down. He reckons the man is hired by the family of his ex-lover, to avenge his death. Overall Oscar isn’t really a bad guy, but circumstances have put him into this scorching hellhole.
Overall the flow of the issue isn’t all that fast, but you’ll plow through this 109 pages spanning story quite rapidly, as many pages only have a few words of text. Overall this is actually quite pleasant, as it allows you to enjoy the beautiful sceneries, rituals and characters drawn by Frederik Peeters. The coloring might be rather bland, it does fit the setting perfectly.
The story by Loo Hui Phang is well thought-out, especially when it comes to the blooming romance, and the underlying story about sins and having to live with them, or simply being forced into an awful situation. It’s best not to betray yourself, as you’ll have the rest of your life to ponder about where it went wrong and most of all, why.
Conclusion
Een Beeld van een Jongen is an interesting, exciting and hallucinatory tale about love, danger and spirituality. The sometimes psychedelic artwork that goes together with the strange plot creates a perfect harmony, which drives this story and gives it a very original touch and draws you in closer each page.
No Comments