A twisted relationship searingly plays out amid beautifully delineated pastoral scenes of the American West.
A graphic novel explores the relationship between a man and a centaur in 19th-century America.
Evander Rook, a centaur and formerly a Southern Unionist, gets hired by a sinister sphinx, Elen. Evander’s task is to kill Asa Langley, who’s the director of central west operations for Wakefield Steel and “crazy enough to eat the devil with horns on.” Instead of murdering Asa, Evander works for him, and a turbulent romantic entanglement develops. The pair travels through the United States. After first meeting in Iowa, they make a stop in Davidson, “a shithole town in Wyoming” that has a mine, and the Colorado territory Lynd, where Asa wants to build a railroad connecting to Denver. Evander and Asa consider living in Deseret, a provisional Western state that the inhabitants believe was Jesus’ final resting spot; it’s also a place rich in uranium, copper, and iron. After the duo’s plans are disrupted, Evander eventually gains information about some puzzling questions, helping him make an important decision about his life and relationship with Asa. Using minimal and muted color tones reminiscent of sepia photographs, Orlesky skillfully renders images of an older America, though one inhabited by both humans and nonhumans. In this engrossing series opener, the engaging drawings depict multiple intriguing angles. One frame zooms in on Evander’s hooves crossing a railroad bridge while the next pulls back to show the centaur and a man as small shapes silhouetted against a panoramic sky. Marred by inner pain, Asa and Evander conceal it with laconic language. Their psychological battle, as they struggle not to kill or be killed, can get intense (and confusing), but wordlessly touching each other seems to bring them relief. Through Orlesky’s haunting illustrations of the uninhabited Western landscapes, wide open and natural, readers will get the sense of a land filled with promise and possibility that men like Asa exploit for personal gain.
A twisted relationship searingly plays out amid beautifully delineated pastoral scenes of the American West.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9781545820445
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Even so, this remains Macbeth, arguably the Bard of Avon’s most durable and multilayered tragedy, and overall, this enhanced...
A pairing of the text of the Scottish Play with a filmed performance, designed with the Shakespeare novice in mind.
The left side of the screen of this enhanced e-book contains a full version of Macbeth, while the right side includes a performance of the dialogue shown (approximately 20 lines’ worth per page). This granular focus allows newcomers to experience the nuances of the play, which is rich in irony, hidden intentions and sudden shifts in emotional temperature. The set and costuming are deliberately simple: The background is white, and Macbeth’s “armor” is a leather jacket. But nobody’s dumbing down their performances. Francesca Faridany is particularly good as a tightly coiled Lady Macbeth; Raphael Nash-Thompson gives his roles as the drunken porter and a witch a garrulousness that carries an entertainingly sinister edge. The presentation is not without its hiccups. Matching the video on the right with the text on the left means routinely cutting off dramatic moments; at one point, users have to swipe to see and read the second half of a scene’s closing couplet—presumably an easy fix. A “tap to translate” button on each page puts the text into plain English, but the pop-up text covers up Shakespeare’s original, denying any attempts at comparison; moreover, the translation mainly redefines more obscure words, suggesting that smaller pop-ups for individual terms might be more meaningful.
Even so, this remains Macbeth, arguably the Bard of Avon’s most durable and multilayered tragedy, and overall, this enhanced e-book makes the play appealing and graspable to students . (Enhanced e-book. 12 & up)Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2013
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: The New Book Press LLC
Review Posted Online: Nov. 6, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2013
Using modern language, McDonald spins the well-known tale of the two young, unrequited lovers. Set against Nagar’s at-times...
A bland, uninspired graphic adaptation of the Bard’s renowned love story.
Using modern language, McDonald spins the well-known tale of the two young, unrequited lovers. Set against Nagar’s at-times oddly psychedelic-tinged backgrounds of cool blues and purples, the mood is strange, and the overall ambiance of the story markedly absent. Appealing to what could only be a high-interest/low–reading level audience, McDonald falls short of the mark. He explains a scene in an open-air tavern with a footnote—“a place where people gather to drink”—but he declines to offer definitions for more difficult words, such as “dirges.” While the adaptation does follow the foundation of the play, the contemporary language offers nothing; cringeworthy lines include Benvolio saying to Romeo at the party where he first meets Juliet, “Let’s go. It’s best to leave now, while the party’s in full swing.” Nagar’s faces swirl between dishwater and grotesque, adding another layer of lost passion in a story that should boil with romantic intensity. Each page number is enclosed in a little red heart; while the object of this little nuance is obvious, it’s also unpleasantly saccharine. Notes after the story include such edifying tidbits about Taylor Swift and “ ‘Wow’ dialogs from the play” (which culls out the famous quotes).Pub Date: May 10, 2011
ISBN: 978-93-80028-58-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Campfire
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
