El New Deal

by Jonathan Case

The New Deal harks back to the 1930s and the Depression era of New York City as Case explores class misconceptions, racial tension, and deft cat burglary through the lens of a bellhop and a maid in the Waldorf Astoria.

When a charming woman named Nina checks in to the iconic hotel with a high-society entourage, young Frank, a bellhop, and Theresa, a maid, get caught up in a series of mysterious thefts. The stakes quickly grow perilous, and the pair must rely on each other to discover the truth while navigating delicate class politics.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Crime

108 pages, Paperback

First published October 6, 2015

Reviews

[Magdalena · Rating 3 out of 5]

The New Deal by Jonathan Case Frank, a bellhop, and Theresa, a maid, works at the Waldorf Astoria. Therese gets accused of theft by an old lady. but is cleared from that and she suspects that Frank is the one that stole from the old lady. But is he really guilty or is there a cat burglar in the hotel?

I found the story quite charming to read even though it took me some time to really get into the story. The last issue in this volume was best, but I don't want to give away the plot. All I say is that the ending tied the story together very well and was very funny to read. I look forward to reading more volumes.

The art was good, loved reading it in black and white which suited the story very well since it takes place in the 1930s.

3.5 stars

I received this copy from the Dark Horse Books through Edelweiss in return for an honest review! Thank you!

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of a white bellhop and a black maid working at the Waldorf in the New Deal era. He's smitten with her but she's giving him the cold shoulder. He also owes a guest of the hotel a lot of money. When some jewelry goes missing, she gets the blame. Who's really behind the thefts and how will they get out of this?

The Good: Jonathan Case's art is great. The story takes a delightful twist in the final issue.

The Bad: The story meanders for the first three issues. I wasn't really even sure there was a story.

The Ugly: That pet.. Yikes!

[Kayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the artwork. But the story felt too quick and the ending was interesting a bit but also I felt like nothing happened and the characters got lucky. 3 stars because I liked the art style but the story itself more like 2 stars.

[Maxine · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s 1936 and the height of the Great Depression but you wouldn’t know it at the Waldorf Astoria…unless, of course you’re a bellhop or a maid and you have to be constantly at the beck and call of the spoiled rich guests or the constant demands of management. When Nina Booth arrives in grand style with her trunk and her bird cage, bellhop Frank O’Malley is immediately smitten. But she’s way out of his league. Besides, he’s been unlucky at the poker table and he better pay up or else. Meanwhile, Theresa, an African American maid with acting aspirations (she’s in Orson Welles’ production of Macbeth staged with an all-black cast) has her own troubles. When a very expensive jewel-encrusted dog collar goes missing, the help is immediately suspected and the owner of the collar wants Theresa fired immediately despite her pleas of innocence. Fortunately (maybe), Nina steps in and asks to have Theresa assigned as her personal maid. But Nina may be more than just your average spoiled rich girl and Frank and Theresa may be in a whole lot deeper than they ever could have imagined.

Okay, I’ll admit it, I’m a huge fan of graphic novels and The New Deal is a fine example of why. Published by Dark Horse and written and beautifully illustrated by Jonathan Case, this, his latest graphic novel, is one heck of a fun heist story as well as an homage to the classic caper films of the era. With Case’s attention to both the costumes of the period as well as the Art Deco details of the architecture, it is also a feast for the eyes.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Graphic novel crime story set in the Waldof-Astoria hotel in New York City during the 1930s.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Im Waldorf-Astoria der 30er Jahre ist von der Großen Depression nichts zu spüren. Hier steigen die Reichen und die Superreichen ab, genießen den Glamour und leiden an ihren Luxusproblemchen.


Illustre Gäste treffen ein:



Frank O´Malley arbeitet hier als Hotelpage, Theresa Harris als Zimmermädchen. Die beiden sind sehr unterschiedlich. Frank ist ein Musterbeispiel irischer Leichtlebigkeit und hat zudem Spielschulden bei einem reichen Hotelgast, während Theresa ernsthafter ist und für eine Rolle am Theater probt. Sie ist eine Farbige und wird sich Franks Unbedarftheit auch gar nicht leisten können.
Frank fragt ihren Text ab und zwischen den beiden könnte es knistern, aber dann kommt es zu Schmuckdiebstählen im Hotel, und wer könnte bessere Tatverdächtige abgeben als eine Farbige oder ein verschuldeter Page?

Zur fesselnden Handlung kommt die großartige Artwork von Jonathan Case hinzu, die im Duotone-Druck besonders beeindruckend zur Geltung kommt. THE NEW DEAL ist eine stimmungsvolle Graphic Novel mit authentischer Atmosphäre und viel Zeitkolorit.

[Ashley Lynne · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

I thought the ending was cheesy and not at all original, and i wish the story had received at least 50 more pages of development.
I didn’t have enough time to get sucked into the story or get attached to the characters.

[Skye Kilaen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, the pleasures of a heist comic in which 2/3 of the thieves have no freakin' clue what they're doing! I had such a good time reading this. The art is crisp and clean, the characters are well-rounded, and Case keeps every single plot-related ball in the air with ease until he starts throwing them precisely where they should go.

Set in Depression-era NYC at the Waldorf Astoria hotel, The New Deal is the story of two coworkers. Frank is a white bellhop with a gambling debt he can't pay. Theresa is an African-American maid with a passion for acting which is - shall we say - going unfulfilled in the roles available to her in that time and place. Her treatment by the rich white patrons of the Waldorf Astoria isn't any better. (And to complicate matters further, Frank has a crush on Theresa. Because she's great.)

A new guest and a series of mysterious thefts at the hotel pull both main characters into an even more complicated mess... and that's where I'll leave you to read it for yourself. Enjoy!

[Jessi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is about a bellhop, Frank, and a maid named Theresa, who work at the Waldorf Astoria in the 1930's. They find themselves mixed up in a hotel heist and the big question is which one of them committed the crime and if they didn't do it, who did?

I wasn't as impressed as I had hoped by this beautiful graphic novel. It's witty, charming, entertaining, and the coloring fit the time frame perfectly, but I found the story line lacking. It took a majority of the book for it to even come together. Overall it did come together nicely, but I was hoping for it to pack a little more punch. What it lacked in story it definitely made up for in humor.

[Laura Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful artwork captures the feel of the 1930s. Character design makes them easily distinguishable and the well-written dialogues provides them with unique voices. My complaint is the ending which felt both disappointing and abrupt. Will there be a sequel?

[Juan Naranjo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un hotel de lujo en el Nueva York de los años treinta es el marco perfecto para contarnos una aventura clásica de robo de joyas, clases sociales y flirteo.
La desaparición de un famoso collar millonario pone en el punto de mira a un botones encantador con muchas deudas de juego, que encontrará su compinche perfecta en una camarera de habitaciones con aspiraciones de actriz. Sus sueños de hacerse ricos choca con las rarezas y las aspiraciones de algunos de los millonarios huéspedes del hotel, que tendrán sus propios planes.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well done. I don't read many graphic novels; this was a refreshing change of pace. Set behind the scenes at the luxurious Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City in 1936, it presents a heist tale with two likable protagonists, one a bellhop named Frank and the other a chambermaid named Theresa. Theresa is an aspiring actress who is appearing in an all-black production of Macbeth, directed by none other than a 20 year old Orson Welles. The production is funded by the WPA. The illustrations are stylish and dynamic, and true to the period. There's a remarkable amount of character development, plot and socially conscious thematic material for a 106 page book.

[Sandra Dias · Rating 4 out of 5]

Não é uma banda desenhada de referência, mas fiquei com muita estima por este livro pelo prazer que me deu ao lê-lo.

Gostei da arte, do traço de Jonathan Case, das cores que usou.
Gosto da época - anos 20.
Gostei da trama - um roubo suspeito que veio a revelar um astuto e belo ladrão.
Gostei do desfecho.
Gostei de tudo.

Com classe, do calibre de Gatsby.

[Elfo-oscuro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esta bastante bien, un comic ambientado en los años 30 donde ves el trato a los de raza negra y el asunto que trata tiene un final sorprendente. Recomendable

[Ruben Oliveira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't let the title fool you, this feels much closer to a cozy noir film than a history lesson. Jonathan Case's art looks great, especially the blue tones that adds to the vintage feel.

[Kaitlin Jundt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first adult graphic novel! I have to say I enjoyed the beautiful illustrations and the 1920/1930's style to it. It felt like I was watching a movie from that time. The storyline was okay.

[Aneesa]

I'm so old I don't have patience for fiction anymore. Didn't finish.

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

The New Deal is a lovingly illustrated single story graphic novel set in mid 1930s New York City. More homage to 1940s-1950s black and white caper movies than historical piece, the plot features a mysterious set of thefts, femme fatale, and plenty of double crossing and twists to keep readers invested. But this isn't a noir piece: author Case explores race relations during a period of time that signaled the peak of the Harlem renaissance (cue Orson Welles' 'Voodoo Macbeth" play). Our protagonists, a maid and a bellhop at the Waldorf Astoria, are singularly blue collar but inexorably caught up in the affairs of the wealthy. They may not always make the right decisions but you'll root for them throughout.

Story: Young Irish American Frank is a happy-go-lucky kind of guy who may owe some money from poker games but he's pretty harmless. He's a bellhop at the Waldorf Astoria and works with maid Theresa - the only African American on the staff and a very serious and intelligent young lady. Their friendship is seen as a curiosity, especially since Frank helps Theresa every night to practice lines for her small part in Orson Welles' new play in Harlem. When a valuable necklace goes missing, Theresa was the only person working the floor at the time and is immediately blamed. But was it Frank (who is in desperate need of cash to repay a debt) who took the money - or was it the big time artifact collector guest - as suggested by the enigmatic society girl (and hotel guest) Nina? The two employees are going to get more than they bargained for as they become embroiled in the mystery at the Waldorf.

Although this sounds like yet another noir piece, really this owes more to lighthearted "His Girl Friday" than Sunset Boulevard. As such, the story is more romp than screwball comedy or hard boiled detective piece - and that's a good thing. The tone matches the beautiful illustrations perfectly and allows the historical aspects to be grounded while still giving the reader a treat of a story. The characters are wonderfully animated, definitely distinct, but still full of that sweet innocence of the time.

Enough can't be said about the beautiful illustrations. Done in a 1930s Eisner style, they further evoke the wonderful period of mid 1930s New York City. From how dishes are done to elevator work at the Waldorf, the historical milieu is respected but doesn't take over the story at any time. The hallmark of a good writer is that the world supports the characters/tale but never overwhelms. The Waldorf is a character in itself here but never a major one, instead providing the nuances needed to understand and appreciation the main characters and their actions. Case made smart decisions to use the digital medium but also add in hand-done touches such as the washes (which just couldn't be done digitally right now). It makes for a beautiful presentation that shows how much craft and care went into the book's creation.

Where this failed for me, and this is a minor quibble, is with the important character of Nina. Admittedly, as a student of fashion history, I fell madly in love with her hats but was frustrated by her attire. Anachronistic pieces featuring rioting and inappropriate patterns, shocking (for the era) cleavage, one egregiously over the top skin tight (and not because it was bias cut) ensemble, and (dare I say it) boring shoes that didn't match her status took me right out of the story and the period. I ended up feeling Nina was more Jennifer Lopez in Maid in Manhattan than Katherine Hepburn in Holiday. Yes, she is a high society flirt - but her wardrobe would still have needed to be more conservative. But I have to admit, she was great fun and a joy to read. Case has such a way with personalities and showing emotion that Nina's joie de vivre was infectious. I wanted her in every scene!

Despite the reservation above (yes, I know, silly - but in a carefully researched book like this, it grated), The New Deal was a treat. Each page was a joy to read and explore and the story had a sweet beating heart. It's a graphic novel that makes you feel warm after you've read it and want to read again, especially to enjoy the beautiful period details and illustrations. The cover alone was a "yes, please now!" for me the first time i saw it and the inside work is just as gorgeous. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

[DeAnna Knippling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Art was great. Plot and characters...? Ach, a letdown.



Okay. Here's the deal: sometimes you write stories with false endings, the ending that never could have been, and everyone knows that that's how it never could have gone, and even though the ending is happy, there's a moment of mourning as the rest of the story pops into place and you go, "Oh...that was what that was about." Like the movie E.T.--the ending where his alien brethren come back for the dying alien? That's a false ending. E.T. dies, because E.T. is a movie about death, about how we have to let our loved ones go. It's played so completely straight as an alien movie that it's easy to miss the overall plot: boy grows up by taking responsibility for another, then has to learn to let them go. The story is made richer by the fact that it lies, and hides its lies well, about what it's like to have a pet, or a grandmother, or a friend who dies young.

Or like the cut of Thelma and Louise, in which they land on the other side. Those are examples of that kind of ending, well done.

This story is one with a similarly false ending. There was a voodoo MacBeth directed by Orson Welles, that's true. But the thing with the cat burglar--it's not true, and it's not even an enriching lie. To have delved deeply into the injustices of the time, then to give the characters an easy out by means of a white woman who didn't exist is an inappropriate deus ex machina, and the story is weaker for it. All it tells us is that a little bit of cleverness will solve racial and social inequities: just steal your way out.

I wanted to like it--but the story has a fundamental flaw, as a story. The overall point of view is broken.

[Maggie Gordon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The New Deal is a thrilling romp of a story set in 1930s New York at the Waldorf Astoria. The back of the book claims that Case deals with racial and class issues, but don't expect much from this aspect. There is recognition that inequities exist, but this is a pulpish cat burglar tale that isn't aspiring to be much else. However, being a pulpish cat burglar tale is a perfectly fine thing to be, and The New Deal is silly, exciting, and fun to read. The art is absolutely amazing as well. All in all, a simple, but enjoyable read.

[rachel, x · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly, didn't catch my interest. I didn't mind the art style - in fact, the simple use of light blue-toned colouring worked so well - but the storyline was a tad confusing, and I just couldn't come to care as much as I would have liked to. We didn't have enough time to explore the characters so I wasn't attached, and some characters - particularly Nina - completely bamboozled me. Not my favourite graphic novel, that's for sure.

[Sarah Fields · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went back and forth with this one. There was a lot that I loved about it, the style,, the setting, the relationship between Frank and Teresa, and of course the mysterious Nina. I thought I was going to really love this for the first half of but then it just sort of fizzled out which was really disappointing.

[Paul Hasbrouck · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's 1930's New York City and to young people, a bellman and maid, working at The Waldorf Hotel become entangle in the series of jewel robberies hitting the hotel. The cast of characters are filled with detectives, guests, the upper class, actors and special appearance by Orson Welles.
The art is fantastic and the story places like one of the great screwball comedies.
Hoping for a sequel.

[Derek Royal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful graphic novella (if you want to use that phrasing/description). This work strikes me as making a great play. We recently had Jonathan on The Comics Alternative, http://comicsalternative.com/comics-a....

[Sonic · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is brilliant.

As an illustrator Mr. Case is kinda in a league of his own. His compositions, expressions, depth, pacing, handling of both serious and comedic elements, fluidity and flow, framing, graphic story-telling, etc. is all just masterful.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this vintage-style art.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little jewel thievery, a little racial politics and a little high society in 1930s New York. An amazingly quick, charming read. Hope there's a follow up.

[J. Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful art, forgetful story.

[Tony Laplume · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been four years since I last read The New Deal, which itself was four years after I'd read Jonathan Case for the first time in the pages of his brilliant Dear Creature. I found a copy of New Deal at a comic book convention and snapped it up. Case is one of those great talents who hasn't really been talked about a lot, and I've grown to value my discovery of him even more over the years, as well as New Deal itself, which is filled with subtle storytelling.

Reading over my original review (which follows, minus a few inexplicable "by the ways," all the more inexplicable for the fact of there being three such instances, their absence now helping it read better and my talking about them as if you have any idea where they were...time to end this parenthetical phrase!), I see the bones of the pleasures to be found within New Deal, but I'd like to rephrase.

The title of the story evokes FDR's famous Great Depression recovery project. Students of history can appreciate the massive effort he made to jumpstart not only the economy but the culture, something that seems entirely foreign to later generations. If there are programs anything like it now, they're hidden and undiscussed. At any rate, talent such as Orson Welles, later known for his much-talked-about film career, benefited from this era, in which he staged his "Voodoo Macbeth." How Case works this into his plot is part of how his storytelling works. He trusts his reader to follow him as he navigates around things the reader will know, but not how he tells it.

For instance: the main character of New Deal is Frank O'Malley, a New York bellhop looking for a break but having so far only found trouble. He lost a considerable amount of money gambling and so the story begins with him sweating how to make it back. But this is an era where suddenly anything is possible again, and I think that's Case's whole point.

Contrasted with Frank is Theresa, a black maid who works at the same swank hotel, who also happened to be featured in Welles' Macbeth, and in the early part of the story she's as happy about that as Frank is sweating his money situation. Yet the minute she's accused of stealing a fancy dog collar, and we and she blames Frank, everything starts to crumble for them. Frank and Theresa are actually pals, but neither of them really seems to appreciate this fact. They're both kind of complete innocents in that regard, which is ironic given how the story ends.

They get a little push from Nina Booth, a gorgeous woman who's as nice to them as they are, most of the time, to each other, but knowing a lot more about why, and as the story progresses we learn why that is, what sets her apart from all the other guests of the hotel, why she can afford to be nice when everyone else just treats them like disposable riffraff. In that sense, Case is using the title to introduce Frank and Theresa to the future, one FDR didn't possibly even intend, but would emerge in later decades, in which the American Dream could emerge a little more fully. The Great Depression happened, after all, because of a stiflingly interconnected world that didn't really understand how it operated. Like other guests using Theresa as a convenient scapegoat, and even Theresa (and the reader) blaming Frank, the causes of the Depression were quickly misinterpreted, and it took someone like FDR merely introducing new opportunity, a fresh start, just as Nina does with Frank and Theresa.

I don't know how much Case intended to say with New Deal, whether he was considering the then-recent Great Recession, or how nothing like FDR's effort has been made since that time, and maybe it was time to do it again. Maybe. Then again, the economy became robust again because of a war (maybe you heard about it? WWII?), and then it boomed considerably, until we stopped working together and just started pointing figures all over again, which is exactly what we're doing now.

Maybe all this is too weighty to put on the shoulders of a graphic novel. Maybe you just want me to talk about the art (Case's one fault is that he can sometimes overuse a facial expression), which is presented in black and white, quite effectively, and that the story moves along breezily (it's a quick read, but there's plenty of meat, too). Above all, Case knows how to tell a story.

There just happens to be a lot more to it than you might find elsewhere.

To reach the point where Theresa quits Welles's production is to discover, perhaps, Case's finer points. It's easy to hero worship Welles, but he had a troubled career for a reason. Reading Case's interpretation of the Macbeth production, one gets the sense that, yes, he was doing something no one else was going to do, but he might also have been exploiting something, too, telling a version of Shakespeare, with black actors, the way he thought black actors ought to play it. Case actually has him evoke slavery and savage behavior in his stage direction. In that sense, you can begin to have a different view of the production. You begin to remember that you can acknowledge and condescend at the same time, that progress isn't always signaled in a positive way. Nina argues with a friend over the effects of FDR's programs on the black community. This is all about shades of gray, perhaps, certainly by the time you discover how the happy ending will be reached. So this story told in black and white rejects such a worldview.

For readers interested in that kind of storytelling, there's that, too.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

That woman on the cover is actually the third lead after a bellhop named Frank and a maid named Theresa. The woman is Nina, and to say more about who she is would be something of a spoiler, but if you've seen The Dark Knight Rises, The New Deal might almost be described as Christopher Nolan's comic book caper sans Batman.

Theresa is black, and in a story set in 1930s New York, she's also an actress in rehearsals for Orson Welles' Macbeth. Welles doesn't really factor into the story. That part of New Deal has more to do with Jonathan Case's continuing fascination with working Shakespeare into more modern storytelling without actually using Shakespeare's stories to do it, as he did in the delightful Dear Creature.

Case is an unusual talent. Dear Creature took me by complete surprise when it was released four years ago. I was pleased to read more of Case's work, and all the more surprised to find that other than the Shakespeare link, New Deal isn't really anything like it. Sure, it's playful in the same enjoyable way, but it's grounded in the real world, even if it's a period piece (that doesn't bog itself down with period details).

Frank and Theresa are both trying to break out of ruts. Frank is one of those hopeless gamblers deep in debt and desperate to repay it, but even as he realizes Theresa will be able to help him, neither has any idea how it'll actually happen, which makes their mutual acquaintance, the mysterious and increasingly fortuitous Waldorf Astoria guest Nina that much more important as the story develops.

Some readers might find its abrupt ending unsatisfying, but for me, it's more like a representation of the title, which evokes FDR's New Deal, of course, but also the fresh start our leads have attained. The clash of the poor and rich is also a major theme of the story, with Nina another fine turning point there.

If New Deal isn't as breathtaking an achievement as Dear Creature, it's still another indication that Case is a major talent worth rooting for.

[Artur Coelho · Rating 4 out of 5]

É tentador ler o título e pensar que esta história tem a ver com a política social que tirou os Estados Unidos da Grande Depressão. O que de facto, acontece. Os tempos da Nova Iorque, meados dos anos 30, são mediados pelo impacto das medidas de política social. Mas o verdadeiro novo negócio deste livro é outro, e é-nos revelado no final de um divertido e inesperado policial a preto e branco, que troca o escuro noir pelo reluzir do luxo.

Tudo se passa no Waldorf Astoria, o lendário hotel de luxo nova-iorquino. Temos um paquete irlandês que sonha com uma vida melhor, mas tem uma dívida para com um dos clientes do hotel, um milionário famoso. A quantia é minúscula, mas quando se é pobre, não há dívidas pequenas. Temos uma empregada afro-americana, que também é talentosa atriz nas horas vagas. A sua presença destoa no mundo de elegante segregacionismo do hotel. E ainda temos uma bela e misteriosa mulher, aparentemente rica e cliente habitual do hotel. Socialite de topo, recebe as mais distintas personalidades no hotel. Mas, quando um inesperado roubo parece apontar para um crime cometido pelo paquete, a história irá mostrar-nos que as aparências, sempre iludem.

A história oscila entre a narrativa de época e o policial. A ilustração evoca a época através do seu estilismo, recuperando a memória visual dos anos 30. Uma boa surpresa que cativa pelo grafismo, com um final de profunda ironia que não deixa o leitor indiferente.