Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Doug Does it Again!, September 21, 2007
Doug TenNapel does it again with this great mob-faith-driven-sci-fi mudslide of entertainment! The drawings are his most gritty and earthy ( I think he draws with brush in fist) and the dialog rough and real, with a sensitivity that is a stamp on all he does.
I'm an illustrator from Brooklyn NY and I lost what made me want to draw, but Doug gave it back, ten fold!
If you have a love for the odd, creepy, and bizzare, and you are a fan of great drawing, composition, design and story telling! (Doug's a master!) Black Cherry is a MUST have! And I command you to go and get ALL of Doug's past work (Creature Tech first). I don't have time for spell check and was going to use much more descriptive words to describe this book..but I don't have time for spell check. You need to read thgese words now!! Get this graphic novel! Nuff' said! (I am an animation artist and have Black Cherry next to my drawing disc right now!)
-Gene D. from Brooklyn
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Spontaneous, inventive sci-fi for older audiences, August 26, 2007
Black Cherry is a romp; I know this is a really cop-out, obvious thing to say about nearly all of Mr. TenNapel's graphic novels, but this one particularly so. I've always appreciated his General Audiences titles for the fact that any restraint is imperceptible, and perhaps his ability to realize when a story actually doesn't need vulgarity explains his ability to tell a story that requires it with the same amount of purpose.
The story, dialogue and characters are harsh, yes, but not needlessly so. The spontaneous, daring brush style (present in most of his work but particularly so here) almost seems like its extending that sort of verbal and thematic aesthetic. The obscenities strengthen the overall message of the story by providing a believable context for the themes of salvation that permeates the overall arch of the book.
That doesn't mean I don't have any complaints. The cover, while engaging in a fun throwback to EC-era horror comic book covers, is somewhat neutered by the static focal point; such an over-the-top treatment of typography really calls for a much more dramatic cover illustration, instead of such a neutral one that really communicates no feeling found within the book itself save the grungy brush line. TenNapel exhibits fluid, compelling visuals more times than I can count within the book itself, and I just don't think an image of Eddie standing awkwardly like a marionette accurately reflects the book's content.
Additionally, parts of the story might seem awfully familiar to regular readers of Doug's work. Echoes of all of Doug's graphic novels seem to leak into this book, particularly from "Creature Tech"; the rebellious youth defies his pastor father and ultimately regains faith through a climactic struggle involving aliens and/or the supernatural. While the theme of faith itself isn't tired (as Doug himself would attest, it may very well be the opposite, particularly in science fiction stories) the execution is a bit hungry for a fresh spin.
Despite these admittedly minor complaints, the end product is an extremely gratifying read that I'd recommend to any of my 18+ friends, and arguably his best since Creature Tech. The art is fantastic, especially the use of spontaneous brush lines and dramatic lighting. The story is exciting enough to keep you flipping pages continuously while entertaining enough that it made me laugh out loud on a few different occasions (the bread-and-wine scene in the car especially). Really, really great, and even better having had the opportunity to pick it up directly from the man himself at this year's Comic-Con.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Riotous, Rollicking, Fabulous, Spiritual TENNAPEL-NESS!, August 2, 2007
He has done it again. Doug TenNapel has taken an assortment of elements/genres--gangster, romance, sci-fi, horror, action, comedy, spiritual warfare--and made it all work together. The description on the cover says, "A lurid tale of sex, violence, and the supernatural." Yup. And funny as heck. They forgot that part. And moving. Forgot that, too. And full of mercy for the outcast, the prodigal, the misfit, and the...alien. Not to mention squirrels.
I can't offer much by way of summary without giving away some fun plot points and twists. I know you'd much rather learn those on your own the old-fashioned way (by reading it), so here it is: Bad guy Eddie Paretti, who's fallen in love with a stripper named Black Cherry, finds that 1. his girl is gone from the strip place and 2. he's made a deal to steal a body from his own mob boss in order to get money to pay off his debts and 3. that body is not what he expects.
Stealing that body is about to get Eddie in a big, big fix, and it's going to save him, too, in all sorts of ways.
The cast includes some staples of sci-fi/crime fiction/spiritual warfare/horror: demons, angels, bad guys, good guys, a priest, an alien, the hot chick, the wise-cracking protagonist, the cool pal, and car chases.
But TenNapel has a way of taking traditional elements and doing something wacky, funny, moving, and new with them, and always with some spiritual insights. What he does with one particular, er, sacrament is to die for.
I love D.G. and I couldn't put down BLACK CHERRY.
This gets a big thumbs up for graphicky novel goodness. Or is that badness?
And yeah, if you're easily offended by cussing and sexual talk, then this is not the work for you. But, as TenNapel says in his preface, "Criminals don't talk like they are trying to keep from offending soccer moms."
One quibble: The ending needed a little more space. At least another couple of pages to fill out some blanks. But, really, that's all I found wanting.
Hurry up with the next one, Doug. Your graphic novels are each a delicious, demented delight.
Mir
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