Isaac the Pirate: Vol. 1 - To Exotic Lands [Paperback]

Christophe Blain (Author)

Book Description

Series: Isaac the Pirate | Publication Date: October 1, 2003

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This volume collects two installments of a continuing story by young French artist Blain, who is part of the new generation of European comics creators. The story is an intriguing mixture of naivete and sophistication. Isaac is a young, talented painter in pre-Revolution France. He lives with the beautiful Alice and dreams of making enough money from his art to marry her. But he leaves her to go on a sea voyage, not so much because it offers good wages but because it promises to show him new things to draw. He soon learns his captain isn't just a pirate; he wants to become famous by sailing to the South Pole. Alice, meanwhile, tries to remain true to Isaac while struggling with poverty and dealing with the attentions of a handsome though featherheaded admirer, Philip. Blain's humans are childishly distorted, with misshapen heads and exaggerated facial features, but he composes scenes well, especially in panoramic landscapes as Isaac's ship nears Antarctica. The effect of putting cartoony people in more realistically rendered settings resembles Herg's Tintin. Yet complicated doings are afoot in Blain's story, as the characters grapple with dangerous concerns, sometimes behaving like grownups, sometimes like overgrown children. The pirate captain's vainglorious megalomania, Isaac's single-minded devotion to his art, Alice's faithfulness, Philip's romantic excesses-all these are adult passions that can be expressed childishly. And like all such emotions, they have consequences. Keeping readers off balance, Blain's mix of naturalism and cartoonyness creates a story of surprising depth.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Young artist Isaac wants to go to sea, for he prefers marine subjects to all others, except his fiancee Alice, with whom he shares an eighteenth-century Parisian garret. A surgeon he meets enlists him for a voyage--not long--under his pirate friend John's captaincy, on which he can draw to his heart's content. Draw Isaac does, recording a journey--very long--of not plunder but exploration in the far southern seas. Back in Paris, wealthy young Philip hires Alice to cook and clean, and eventually be his clerk. Philip remains gentlemanly with Alice but starts falling in love, sensing which, she goes to live with her mother. Alternating episodes of Isaac's and Alice's stories, Blain draws us into the story as surely as the voyage draws Isaac to the Antarctic and Alice's charms draw Philip's heart. As captivating is Blain's placement of figures caricatured with psychological acuity in realistic settings lit and shaded to suggest antique engravings. Another triumph for the creator of The Speed Abater [BKL My 1 03]. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: NBM Publishing (October 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561633666
• ISBN-13: 978-1561633661
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,039,152 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid Adventure Story, November 7, 2005

By 

A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Isaac the Pirate: Vol. 1 - To Exotic Lands (Paperback)

This French graphic novel is an excellent example of the genre, strong storytelling, evocative art, and a very distinct sensibility of its own. This book revolves around a young Jewish painter named Isaac, who lives in pre-Revolutionary 18th-century Paris. He's kind of the prototypical starving young artist who has a beautiful fiancee and a weakness for nice paintings. While he wants to provide her with food, shelter, etc., he also can't help hoarding pennies to buy pictures he likes. In a funk one day, he is accosted by a dapper little surgeon who flatters and charms him into coming along to paint a sea captain (the painter is particularly fond of maritime subjects). The gullible young man agrees, and before he realizes what's what, he's en route to the Caribbean to serve as artist-in-residence to a pirate captain!

But not just any captain, for this one is intent on sailing to South Pole to discover new lands and thus win immortality as a great explorer. Provided with ample supplies and the patronage of the pirate captain, Isaac spends the long voyage sketching shipboard life, in all its gritty detail. Treasure caves, aristocratic ladies, the terror of battle, and brawling crewman are all faithfully recorded. But meanwhile, back in Paris, Isaac's fiancee Alice is hired as charwoman and then clerk to a handsome, wealthy young buck. At first, this seems like a wonderful solution to her increasing poverty, but then she must cope with his over friendly attention. Isaac and Alice's stories alternate as the pirate drives Isaac closer to Antarctica, and Alice's faithfulness is tested. Blain does an excellent job of conveying the fantastical nature of the wonders of the arctic for the seamen, including ice floes, sea lions, and penguins. At the same time, he's well attuned to the pressures faced by Alice.

The comes in a nice compact format, with very traditional paneling (as befits the old-fashioned story). The art is an interesting mix of realistic backgrounds and props, and very stylized people -- not unlike Herge's classic Tintin books. Blain's Paris is crowded, drab, and decrepit, the interiors dark and creaky. His Caribbean is bright and lush, his Arctic gray and foreboding, and the ship is claustrophobic. On the other hand, his people are rather bizarre looking: from Isaac's rectangular head with pinprick eyes and spike nose jutting out, to the surgeon's squashed head with huge mouth and grotesque sausage nose. It's a peculiarly European style that I can't say I care for, but the storytelling is so strong that it's hard to complain. Good stuff, especially if you like old-fashioned adventure stories -- I look forward to the continuation of Isaac's adventures

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful and enduring tale of the failings of human nature, February 7, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Isaac the Pirate: Vol. 1 - To Exotic Lands (Paperback)

Isaac The Pirate: 1. To Exotic Lands is a graphic novel by Christophe Blaine of an especially high literary quality. Isaac Sofer is a talented young artist searching for money to make himself a worthy suitor to his beloved signs on to paint the portrait of a ship captain - yet once they are on the seas, Isaac learns that he is working aboard a pirate ship! Furthermore, the captain dreams of discovering new lands around the South Pole - but at what cost? The simplistic color illustrations set the stage for a powerful and enduring tale of the failings of human nature. The first of an anticipated series, Isaac The Pirate is a very enthusiastically recommended addition to graphic novel enthusiasts.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars my all time favorite, December 9, 2003

By 

Picturebooks4 (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Isaac the Pirate: Vol. 1 - To Exotic Lands (Paperback)

...no kidding! This is quite possibly THE most talented artist/author working in graphic novels. Brilliant writing, with astonishing characters -- and then the artwork, which just takes my breath away. This is far from mutants and superheroes... This is first rate literature, which I read and re-read all the time.
Treat yourself to this one!