Tales of the Smiths: A Graphic Biography

by Con Chrisoulis

In one place for the first time and featuring new, never-published material, the illustrated story of the pioneering band, from Con Chrissolis's daily comic strip Tales of The Smiths  is a comic book retelling of the band members’ teenage years, before the group was famous, and includes fascinating digressions about their influences (the New York Dolls, Nico, Sex Pistols, NY punk, Patti Smith, etc) and the times in which they were growing up.    The story reaches its climax with the meeting of Morrissey and Marr, the formation of the band in 1982 and their first gig as The Smiths Over 400 b&w illustrations throughout

Genres: Graphic Novels, Music, Comics

464 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2016

Reviews

[áine · Rating 3 out of 5]

idk why year 8 me decided to buy this but it took me 3 years to finish it and now i know more than i ever wanted to know about morrissey

[Matthew Holley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lengthy, detailed pre-Smiths history in graphic novel form that culminates in the formation of the 4-piece band and the release of their first single “Hand in Glove”. It primarily focuses on Morrissey’s early life, with lots of content about the music scene of those days. Lots of interesting stuff, and not having read any of the numerous biographies out there despite being a big Smiths fan, much of it was new information for me.
But boy that font gets quite small at times. And just reading the book once was enough for some of the pages to pop right out of the glued binding :(

[Warren Tutwiler · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolute rubbish. Poorly drawn, awful lettering, full of vague references, and practically lacking any information; as such, it seems only suited for readers who already know "the stories" and want a visual representation of them, as a sort-of digest version of what they've read elsewhere. A shame, really. Originally published online, each page is a four-panel, self-contained "comic" that relates some defining moment in one of the member's youth - the subject often only identifiable by the footnote specifying who is being quoted - and is tangentially tied to one song or another.

I guess I should add that 1) I was around when this stuff was "new"; and 2) I do love The Smiths' music, though not so much Morrissey's solo material, and Johnny Marr's even less.

[☀️CJ☀️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The actual content of the book was really interesting for someone who didn’t know much about The Smiths’ backstory. Personally, I would have liked more about Marr, but I don’t know if that was a personal choice or a choice due to less information about Marr’s upbringing. The art really sucks though. Sure art is subjective, and I totally acknowledge that the style isn’t for me. Style aside, this artist is just… underdeveloped. The proportions are pretty bad at times; the author could definitely benefit from studying anatomy more. There are also some printing errors that are obvious mistakes and just shouldn’t be there for someone who has multiple web comics. Overall it was an enjoyable and intriguing read.

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable look at the Smiths before they were the Smiths. This graphic novel focuses more on the events that led up to the formation of the band. I felt more emphasis was put on Marr as opposed to Morrissey, but still a lot about them both. if you want to know about influences and such, this definitely focuses on that. I wish there was more about the band itself, but that seems left out, but it's worth reading if you are a Smiths fan.

[Erik Carl son · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific and vivid - I’ve read roughly 6 different takes on The Smiths/Moz/Marr, but few are this concerned with the players and influences as Tales Of...
If you want the perfect mix tape and understanding of those pivotal years of Moz and Marr before they refined music, well, look no further.
Plus, you’ll look really smart reading it.

[Olga · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating and thorough work which I would have enjoyed a lot more if not for the font (which is at times unreadable). More on the side of illustrated text rather than a graphic novel, but still a treat for fans.

[Penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me a really long time to read it but it was very interesting, if you like The Smiths.