To Exotic Lands

Isaac le Pirate #1-2

by Christophe Blain

Isaac is a talented artist with no money but with a wonderful lover back in the 18th century. He runs into a rich Captain who is taken by his abilities and hires him with a handsome stipend to come along in his voyages. It turns out he's a pirate. Isaac went to make some quick money and come back and marry the love of his life but has embarked upon a series of at turns hilarious and dark adventures on the high seas from the Caribbean to the icy North, with apparently no end in sight. Meanwhile, his girlfriend is getting attention from another.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Adventure, Historical Fiction, France, Graphic Novels Comics, Sequential Art

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Christophe Blain is a French comic book writer and artist.

Reviews

[Dov Zeller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm. This is a tough one to review. I found I had a sketchy understanding of the action. I got that a financially struggling Jewish painter was tempted to go on a seafaring adventures, but I wasn't fully sure why. I got that his beloved was waiting for him and meanwhile being courted by a wealthy guy and I couldn't tell if she had gotten involved with him or not. (Maybe it was a dream sequence?) I read through the GR reviews to see if they would help me form ideas and opinions but no one has written a thorough, detailed review. And then I found this, and really appreciated its confidence and descriptions of the artistic style and how it is entangled with the mood and action of the story.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1...

Still, a lot of unanswered questions. For example, at the very end of the book a person (not saying who) dies and it is out of the blue (narratively speaking, a strange death) and I was confused. I don't really have any emotional connection to the characters, but the art is moody and compelling (reminds me a bit of Joan Sfar). I am going to give the next volume a try and go from there...

[Roadeer Squirrelberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isaac the Pirate is how a comic should be. it have interesting clear and intriguing drawings and colors, and interesting story that is well thought and historically accurate, it is a story that easy to get into, and every moment is precious, full of comedy, drama, romance action, and they are all well made. the subtext of the comic and the buildup of the story is very well made which make the story worth reading. what's cool about the drawings is that they are 'naive' almost 'childish' but at the same time you can see it's the artists choice, by the dynamics, the perspective and the structure, you can easily see that the artist defiantly knows what he is doing.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

met christophe and he signed my book with an amazing sketch of isaac with a nose that you could hang clothing off of.

amazing read!

[Thit Ringbøl Bitsch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isaac the Pirate is really well drawn. I love how spontaneous it feels and you are never bored. Blain is a master in clarity and composition. He inspired me.

[Noah Appelbaum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hooo boy, I really liked this.
Reading Blain really makes me feel like I'm reading Camus or Kundera, but in this magic way where most of the writing occurs in my head, generated by the visuals and the spaces in between dialogue panels.

There's some unfortunate misogyny in that same "classic" vein, but at least the one real female character is pretty interesting in how she exercises agency. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I definitely enjoyed this book a 5-star amount of enjoyment, so I'm giving it 5 stars.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know what it is about French comics artists/writers. While it's certainly not true of all of them, a lot of them seem to love telling stories about unlikeable people. And infidelity. But they're interesting to read, and Christophe Blain is a marvelous artist so I keep coming back expecting something different. More fool me, or maybe I just need to be less bothered by unsympathetic/less-than-sympathetic protagonists. 3.5 maybe 4 stars.

[Liz Yerby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Joann sfar -- I'm into it

[Brenton · Rating 3 out of 5]

A French painter finds himself swept up into a journey of piracy and discovery while his fiancé back home endures trials of her own while waiting for him to return. This is the first volume of a series, and did a good job of drawing me in and setting up interesting characters who have histories and emotions - in other words, they aren't just flat caricatures. The French cartooning style, with messy lines but expressive, often humorous posing, was well done and detailed.

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

The artwork and the action were well-integrated in this, but that's about the only good thing I can think of to say about it. The plot seemed to lurch this way and that -- it was often totally unclear to me why a character was doing a particular thing. And the end? It seemed to just plain stop, with no reason for doing so, and no attempt to tie up the many loose ends.

[Ham · Rating 1 out of 5]

The realism almost made up for the stylized art, (Honestly who can identify with a square-headed hero) but then I got to a pirate rape/orgy scene and decided to call it quits. Who shelved this in the young adult graphic novel section?!

[Mustafa]

Isaac the pirate by Christopher blain. i take that book because i love to read about pirates and the people that live in the water. It talk about the pirates and how Isaac become a pirate in the story,he leave his wife to be with the pirates.it is rally cool story and fun.

[K T · Rating 2 out of 5]

Darn, I didn't realize this was only a 'part one.'

[Charlie Potter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book-well drawn and good characters. Will suck you in, but you'll enjoy your stay. Pirates and Painters-oh my!

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this French guy's work. Love it!

[Oscar Suescun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Addictive. Adventures, romantic comedy. Lovely characters.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

So very meh. Perhaps it was a lackluster translation, but I found the dialogue unimpressive. The story and characters weren't compelling either. I won't bother with Vol. 2.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Simonfletcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a delight to revisit this comic. I borrowed it from the library, and now I really want to own a copy for my bookshelf at home.

[Damon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good, but made me inexplicably sad.