• Wart might be calling Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw the best graphic novel of the year; the Google translation from French is a little confusing... but they certainly like it
We just wrapped up the next MOME (Vol. 14), out next spring. This issue features quite a doozy: Lilli Carré's "The Carnival," a 32-page full-color graphic novella (featured on the cover above). It's an elegant follow-up to her new graphic novel, The Lagoon, and between both stories it's clear that Carré is a major talent to watch.
In the meantime, look for MOME Vol. 13 to hit stores next month.
• Congratulations and good luck to Linda Medley for being named a finalist (and the only American on the list) for the Prix de la Critique 2008 by the Association des Critiques et Journalistes de Bande Dessinée for Château l'Attente, the French edition of Castle Waiting
A family is seduced by a mysterious creature's siren song that can be heard emanating from the lagoon after dark in talented young cartoonist Lilli Carré’s first long-form work, and how each member reacts to the song in The Lagoon is the crux of the story. For the wise — or pixilated — Grandpa, the song reminds him that, in the time he has left, he must pause to respect, appreciate, and fear nature. The song hints at something that Zoey, the daughter, is too young to fully grasp. And the song lures the sexually frustrated mother, and eventually, her husband, into danger... Carré experimented with nib pens and brushes while drawing this black-and-white graphic novel, giving the art a different feel from her previous, Eisner-and-Harvey-Award-nominated story, Tales of Woodsman Pete. The Lagoon was influenced by the films Creature from the Black Lagoon and Night of the Hunter, but reads more like the gothic, family narratives of Flannery O’Connor or Carson McCullers. Rhythms — Grandpa’s taps, the ticking of a metronome — are punctuated by silences that pace this “sound”-driven story. Older teen and adult readers are invited to imagine the enigmatic creature’s haunting, ever-shifting tune as it reverberates through weedy waters, eventually escaping the lagoon to creep into windows at night.
Today we're presenting a preview look at the haunting debut graphic novel The Lagoon by Lilli Carré. Click this link if the embedded slideshow doesn't appear above, and/or to open it in a new window.
The following books are now available for pre-order! Click the cover images for more info about each book. And of course we'll be bringing you previews as the release dates get closer. All are expected to arrive between now and the end of October. For more, see our Upcoming Arrivals page.
