Murmur

by Lorenzo Mattotti, Jerry Kramsky, Frank Wynne (Translator)

The book opens with a young man, nicknamed Murmur, wandering through Mattotti landscapes. He encounters some odd characters, starting with playful brothers Hans and Fritz (nodding to an early newspaper strip), then a wizened fisherman casting spells to summon the self-explanatory Stagfish. A beguiling beauty in red – is the unlikely wife of the fisherman. Murmur lingers, unwelcome, in a remote mansion (pictured) occupied by the couple. A backstory slowly emerges of Murmur injured in a toxic accident. He’s traumatised, so triggering his return to the, still near-abandoned location, seeking closure. This pays off in an oblique but satisfying ending, though the intrusive narration makes the journey to that point a painful one.
--- Graham Johnstone

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

56 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Lorenzo Mattotti is an Italian comics and graphic artist living in Paris. A frequent contributor of covers for The New Yorker, he's recognized as one of the most outstanding international exponents of comics art. Mattotti won an Eisner Award for his graphic novel Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. He collaborated with Lou Reed in re-imaging Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven.

Reviews

[Jim Agustin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not really a review but a ramble.

Murmur was the first graphic novel I ever bought. Got it from a library, kept borrowing it until I decided it was indeed worth having. Ordered it secondhand from Amazon - my first Amazon purchase!

I go back to it every now and again to feel awe, horror, and sheer joy. A mesmerizing book. I ended up ordering Fires.

[Jonathan de Regt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spacey Giorgio de Chirico x Paul Cezanne met een nadruk op surrealisme en een verhaal over de verwerking van trauma. Als je dit boek kan verkrijgen ergens zou ik het vooral meteen lezen, het is echt een experience.

[Onur Yz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lorenzo Mattotti'ye sanırım Fires ile başlamak lazımmış ama kısmet ben bu öyküden başladım. Çizgi romanla uzun yıllar haşır neşir olmuş ancak sonradan hayatın ağır sorumluluklarını yüklenince ciddi bir ayrılık yaşadığım bu türe yeniden dönmüş olmak tarifi zor bir mutluluk. Tabii bu hisler ben de çizim yapma isteği de doğuruyor. Murmur'u okumayı bitirince hemen tabletimde, öyküde beni çok etkileyen karelerden bir tanesinin replikasını yapmaya çalıştım. Tabii burada bu tür paylaşımlar yapamıyoruz o nedenle sizlerle paylaşma imkanım yok. Keza geçenlerde Küçük Prens'i okuduktan (Exupery'nin çizimleri eşliğinde) hemen sonra da bu çizimlerin en meşhurunun bir replikasını yapmıştım ki tablette çizim yapma konusunda çok acemi aşamada olmama rağmen.

Lorenzo Mattotti ile teşrik-i mesaim sürecek onu hemen söylemeliyim. Fires başta olmak üzere ulaşabileceğim diğer eserlerini okumak arzusundayım. Tek dileğim kendi adıma yitik zamanın ruhu olan çizim sevdamın küllerinden doğması. Olabildiği kadar..

Murmur, aşağıda Celil kardeşimin de belirttiği gibi çizimleri, renkleri, yarattığı atmosferi, okuyucuyu bambaşka dünyalara götürmesiyle son derece etkileyici bir eser. Lorenzo Mattotti ile tanışmamı sağlayanlara saygı ve sevgilerimle...

[Rick Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lorenzo Mattotti transcended the medium of sequential storytelling with his masterpiece, Fires. Working again with writer Jerry Kramsky, the pair created Murmur a few years later. A story about a young man nicknamed Murmur, he wanders the Mattotti brand of Art Nouveau landscapes encountering odd characters along the way. Murmur's story unfolds over his various interactions, revealing a man perturbed by a traumatizing past who seeks closure to his own history. It's a story about both a physical voyage through a phantasmagoric background and a spiritual journey to unravel the meaning of identity.

Dense though the material is, Murmur doesn't quite reach the heights of Fires. Kramsky's script feels much more ad hoc this time around, feeling very much aligned with the patented "Marvel method" of creating comics. Perhaps the blame doesn't fall solely on Kramsky, but rather the partnership between him and Mattotti being less collaborative this time around, but the prose this time around feels more intrusive. Mattotti continues to bring the magic however, with the various architecture and landscapes that pepper the panels of this book being as rich as always. Light colored pencils and oil pastels present a gracious demonstration of Mattotti's brand of Fauvism, showing that he's truly an artist who just happened to make a comic book. The moody color palette compounds the gothic sensibilities of Murmur, crafting an ethereal and melancholic story.

For artwork alone, Murmur is worth checking out. But Fires remains my recommendation for a Kramsky/Mattotti project that is really worth reading.

[StrictlySequential · Rating 4 out of 5]

First English Edition = 1993 = £8.99