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Samuel #2
Sozusagen Samuel
This graphic novel unfolds in front of the reader as a puzzle of short stories and moment-capturing images.
Samuel is a pale, ghost-like character, drawn in clear line, against the controlled psychedelia of color and form. He exists almost invisible to his surroundings, a hero of the ordinary. Musturi's precise storytelling is about individuality and loneliness among others, and of freedom, pondering our daily actions and the choices and values behind them, all evidenced by Samuel’s peculiar actions.
Samuel is a pale, ghost-like character, drawn in clear line, against the controlled psychedelia of color and form. He exists almost invisible to his surroundings, a hero of the ordinary. Musturi's precise storytelling is about individuality and loneliness among others, and of freedom, pondering our daily actions and the choices and values behind them, all evidenced by Samuel’s peculiar actions.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
October 29, 2025
PT Comprei este livro na Feira do Livro porque a capa me chamou a atenção e gostei bastante da arte do autor.
É um livro composto apenas por ilustrações, sem qualquer diálogo — uma sequência de pequenas histórias, quase como tiras de banda desenhada.
Foi divertido de folhear e apreciar a arte, mas fica-se por aí.
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EN I bought this book at the Book Fair because the cover caught my eye and I really liked the author’s artwork.
It’s a book made up entirely of illustrations, with no dialogue — a sequence of small stories, almost like comic strips.
It was fun to flip through and appreciate the art, but that’s about it.
É um livro composto apenas por ilustrações, sem qualquer diálogo — uma sequência de pequenas histórias, quase como tiras de banda desenhada.
Foi divertido de folhear e apreciar a arte, mas fica-se por aí.
--
EN I bought this book at the Book Fair because the cover caught my eye and I really liked the author’s artwork.
It’s a book made up entirely of illustrations, with no dialogue — a sequence of small stories, almost like comic strips.
It was fun to flip through and appreciate the art, but that’s about it.
April 30, 2018
Think of this episodic graphic novel as the surreal escapades of a sperm-like heathen (part Bukowski, part Buster Keaton) traversing the colorful landscapes of Hell. Car crashes, ill-fated one-night stands, boozing with a decadent monkey, getting lost in landscapes with chain-smoking trolls. Not well-suited for those seeking story lines and clarity, this is purely aesthetic and trippy as fuck.
December 12, 2019
Collection of short, surreal and bizarre stories without words. Some of them are offering interesting twist, some of them are just strange, or I didn't get them. Art is vivid and colorful, and I really liked unique style.
February 18, 2021
A collection of clever, colorful comic strips. Blends together qualities of Jim Woodring’s “silent” Frank strips, Chris Ware’s surreal Quimby Mouse strips, and Adventure Time at its most experimental. Fun, if a bit hollow.
July 14, 2020
Amazing. I saw this guy in a post by my friend, Jeff Osier. And was moved to get this and I'm very happy about it. Musturi is kind of a psychedelic, pop art Jim Woodring. Maybe a little darker. Ni dialogue. Just Musturi's signature dude ambling around through weird adventures. Good stuff!
Thanks Jeff!
Thanks Jeff!
December 24, 2018
This is the type genius visual storytelling, on the cusp between hilarious and dark, that represents the possibilities of the graphic novel type book.
March 29, 2018
The art was bizarre, color-saturated and psychedelic. Unlike say, Jim Woodring, however, there was no story behind the craziness. I could definitely imagine the artist illustrating liner notes or concert posters for a trippy rock band.
October 12, 2018
I enjoy it, it was fun, nothing extremely remarkable with this one, for me at least, but it was okey.
July 16, 2024
Great exploration of visual storytelling. I think Masturi takes sequential art past its limit and creates something new and interesting. I think a reader can spend hours looking at these pages and finding new things. It's simple but very effective.
August 9, 2019
Groovin' on the visuals... but didn't come away with anything really moving.
January 28, 2019
This book is like if you saw a graffiti artist painting a little character next to his name, then making a book based on that character, with the character doing all kinds of things from the mundane to the extremely weird.
I really didn't have a problem with this, its just not my cup of tea i think. I guess its supposed to be just a cute art book with no real plot. And the art is cool and surreal at times, but ... yeah there's no plot.
Recommended for anyone who needs a break from reading plot heavy books.
I really didn't have a problem with this, its just not my cup of tea i think. I guess its supposed to be just a cute art book with no real plot. And the art is cool and surreal at times, but ... yeah there's no plot.
Recommended for anyone who needs a break from reading plot heavy books.
March 25, 2018
I wish there was a little more here, but many of the stories are great and Musturi's unique work with color is inspiring. I particularly liked the sections of this work that gave step-by-step instructions for constructing things, like an igloo or a guitar made of wood and an old gas can.
April 17, 2017
Nonlinear. I love the art and would have given it another star if there was any sort of follow thru between the great set pieces.
February 20, 2025
Hay algo en este tipo de propuestas con lo que no acabo de conectar salvo por contadas excepciones. Cuando llego a un comic me es igual que haya o no un hilo conductor mientras tenga la sensación de que el autor quiere mandar un mensaje o retratar algo y no sea simplemente un desfile de viñetas.
Por ejemplo hace poco leí Ghost World de Daniel Clowes, comic que apenas tiene trama pero que busca reflejar ese momento vital tras el instituto donde te crees el rey del mundo, en este caso de mano de dos chicas con mas veneno que un alacrán. También tengo reciente Parque Ciudad de Carlos G Boy, que nos adentra en un peculiar mundo surrealista regido por normas y personajes muy concretos. Ambos ejemplos son propuestas que he disfrutado con sus mas y sus menos.
Simplemente Samuel se trata de un ejercicio mudo donde vemos a Samuel, una especie de monigote de un solo ojo, vagar por una serie de situaciones de todo tipo, desde encuentros sexuales hasta caminatas por mundos extraños. Mi problema está en que no consigo extraer gran cosa de la retahíla de sucesos variopintos salvo lo buen narrador que es Musturi y la buena combinación de dibujo y color de la que hace gala (cosa que para mi ya demostró en la sobresaliente Future, donde si había unos mensajes muy claros) y mi "lectura" (recuerdo que es mudo) ha sido una caminata visual y poco mas.
Dándole vueltas quizas me recuerda a ciertas obras de Lorenzo Montatore, pero este último consigue evocarme mas sentimientos con su estilo, quizas al ser algo mas cercano por su influencia brugueriana siendo algo que he mamado desde pequeño
Realmente me gustaría leer a mas gente dar su opinión acerca de Simplemente Samuel para ver si con una segunda lectura se asienta algo mas en mi mente, pero por el momento no es un tebeo al que me vea volviendo
Por ejemplo hace poco leí Ghost World de Daniel Clowes, comic que apenas tiene trama pero que busca reflejar ese momento vital tras el instituto donde te crees el rey del mundo, en este caso de mano de dos chicas con mas veneno que un alacrán. También tengo reciente Parque Ciudad de Carlos G Boy, que nos adentra en un peculiar mundo surrealista regido por normas y personajes muy concretos. Ambos ejemplos son propuestas que he disfrutado con sus mas y sus menos.
Simplemente Samuel se trata de un ejercicio mudo donde vemos a Samuel, una especie de monigote de un solo ojo, vagar por una serie de situaciones de todo tipo, desde encuentros sexuales hasta caminatas por mundos extraños. Mi problema está en que no consigo extraer gran cosa de la retahíla de sucesos variopintos salvo lo buen narrador que es Musturi y la buena combinación de dibujo y color de la que hace gala (cosa que para mi ya demostró en la sobresaliente Future, donde si había unos mensajes muy claros) y mi "lectura" (recuerdo que es mudo) ha sido una caminata visual y poco mas.
Dándole vueltas quizas me recuerda a ciertas obras de Lorenzo Montatore, pero este último consigue evocarme mas sentimientos con su estilo, quizas al ser algo mas cercano por su influencia brugueriana siendo algo que he mamado desde pequeño
Realmente me gustaría leer a mas gente dar su opinión acerca de Simplemente Samuel para ver si con una segunda lectura se asienta algo mas en mi mente, pero por el momento no es un tebeo al que me vea volviendo
August 2, 2021
It's so much to "read" despite lacking words- he can pack a page as dense as I've ever seen. He is very original but you can still have fun spotting influences as well.
My problem is that there is no real story. There are little adventures within but they are short and have no depth but it manages to be pretty funny at times. Especially the fact that the main character always has his wiener dangling about.
My problem is that there is no real story. There are little adventures within but they are short and have no depth but it manages to be pretty funny at times. Especially the fact that the main character always has his wiener dangling about.
May 12, 2024
Bunch of short wordless stories about a small creature (named Samuel, I guess from the title?). Great drawings, but overall a collection that is missing a narrative and feels like another instance where Fantagraphics decided to print someone's insta page and charge for it.
June 30, 2017
Pleasantly and deadpan funny. With spot on exploded diagrams for making things the baby-man needs to make. Nods to Herge, nods to all comics. Chris Ware's little-bit-creepy Finnish cousin.
September 24, 2017
super trippy very cool
November 9, 2020
Underfundiga illustrationer
January 16, 2026
Me pareció tibio; cuando quiere ser gracioso no lo es lo suficiente, cuando quiere ser delirante no lo es lo suficiente, cuando quiere ser obsceno no lo es lo suficiente, etc. Quizás tuve que haber comenzado por otra cosa de Musturi.
November 14, 2016
Finländaren Tommi Musturi skapar ordlösa, symboliska serier, ofta med fyra kvadratiska rutor per sida och bilder som svämmar över av fantasifulla detaljer och färgprakt. Inspiration kan skönjas från Hergés och Joost Swartes klara linjen-stil, men även från Jim Woodrings infallsrika, hypnotiska serier. Huvudfiguren är en enkel, stiliserad vit figur som sällan visar några känslor trots att han utsätts för allt från att färdas baklänges från grav till livmoder, till att tecknarens händer bokstavligen ingriper i seriens handling. De korta serierna i boken hänger inte tydligt samman, och avdelas även med vad som framstår som fristående illustrationer. Sammantaget ger bokens innehåll dock en sammanhållande känsla som dröjer kvar efter läsandet. Det har tidigare getts ut en bok med Musturis serier på svenska, På väg med Samuel (2009), med samma huvudfigur. Seriekonst på hög nivå.
English:
The Finnish artist Tommi Musturi creates wordless, symbolic comics, often with four square panels per page and images brimming over with imaginative details and richness of color. Inspiration can be discerned from Hergé and Joost Swartes ligne claire, but also from Jim Woodring's whimsical, hypnotic comics. The main character is a simple, stylized white figure which rarely shows any emotion despite being exposed to everything from traveling backwards from the tomb of the womb, to the artist's hand literally, and forcefully intervening in the storyline. The short comics contained in this book are not clearly linked, and are divided with what appears to be individual, non-sequitur illustrations. Overall, the book's content, however, creates a unified feeling that lingers after reading.
English:
The Finnish artist Tommi Musturi creates wordless, symbolic comics, often with four square panels per page and images brimming over with imaginative details and richness of color. Inspiration can be discerned from Hergé and Joost Swartes ligne claire, but also from Jim Woodring's whimsical, hypnotic comics. The main character is a simple, stylized white figure which rarely shows any emotion despite being exposed to everything from traveling backwards from the tomb of the womb, to the artist's hand literally, and forcefully intervening in the storyline. The short comics contained in this book are not clearly linked, and are divided with what appears to be individual, non-sequitur illustrations. Overall, the book's content, however, creates a unified feeling that lingers after reading.
November 2, 2022
Якщо б Jim Woodring малював гірше ніж він малює і не вмів вигадувати сюжети, що роблять його наркоманські малюнки цікавими, він міг би зробити цю книжку. Але її зробив Томмі Мустурі.
January 9, 2017
Hienoja ja hauskoja yksittäisiä väläyksiä, mutta kokonaisuutena ei auennut minulle. Sen kuitenkin ymmärrän, että tämä on maailmanluokan sarjakuvantekijän taidonnäyte. Ei vain minun kuppini teetä.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews