By Nicholas Gurewitch
Publisher: Perrible Books
ISBN: None given
Nicholas Gurewitch is the exceptional talent behind the Perry Bible Fellowship strips, the off-kilter and often dark comics that exploit Gurewitch’s artistic and cerebral versatility. A few years ago he announced a Kickstarter project, a book featuring Death, and being a fan of his work I pledged some cash and waited. To be fair, it was a long wait, but Gurewitch’s chosen medium this time was to use scratch-nibs to etch away at an inked board, an incredibly slow and messy process, and looking back across the project’s growth on the Kickstarter pages it’s astounding to see how many pages he discarded and recreated, some because he wanted a more moody and involved look, others because the creative process suggested a twist in the tale that altered the story’s direction. So it took a very long time, but the results are completely worthwhile. The artwork is quite gorgeous, fantastically detailed with thousands of tiny etch marks per page.
It tells the story of a psychoanalyst who takes Death on as a patient due to his melancholy, the reasons for which swiftly become apparent. Originally intended to be told in rhyme, the book has ended up wordless, and is perhaps stronger for it. And like the Perry Bible Fellowship strips, it’s not quite what you think you’re going to get.
It’s been a long wait, but it’s a remarkable book beautifully made and perfectly finished. Although it’s started life as a Kickstarter project you can buy copies here: http://perrible.bigcartel.com/product/the-book-pre-order
And if you liked that: Check out more at the PBFComics.com
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