A haunting, lyrical graphic novel debut. A family is seduced by the song of the Creature from the Black Lagoon in talented young cartoonist Lilli Carre's first long-form work, and how each member reacts to the Creature's siren call in The Lagoon is the crux of the story. Carre experimented with nib pens and brushes while drawing this black-and-white graphic novel, giving the art a different feel from her previous, Eisner-and-Harvey-Award-nominated story, The Tale of Woodsman Pete. Lagoon was influenced by the films Creature from the Black Lagoon and Night of the Hunter, but reads more like the gothic family narratives of Flannery O'Connor. Rhythms - taps, the ticking of a metronome - are punctuated by silences that pace this "sound"-driven story. Older teen and adult readers are invited to imagine the enigmatic Creature's haunting, ever-shifting tune as it reverberates through weedy waters, eventually escaping the lagoon to creep into windows at night.
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Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
Here’s an almost cozy story of how a creature from the literally black lagoon holds a spiritual connection to several generations of a small family. Carré’s black-and-white cartoons are a step away from Kim Deitch: a bit more wobbly, befitting the rural and often watery settings. Zoey, a young girl who lives near the woods-enshrouded lagoon with her parents and grandfather, becomes increasingly aware of the nocturnal activities involving the adults and the small, damp dragon-sprite. The symbol-rich tale offers readers a smorgasbord of sounds—piano, whistling, a metronome’s monotony, tapping fingers—in addition to the mysterious yet homely landscapes, which include corners of the house and a fire in the yard as well as the depths of the grassy lagoon. The narrative drive isn’t lost at the expense of all this symbolism; on the contrary, this slim volume packs abundant energy and demands regular revisiting. --Francisca Goldsmith
Review
This slim volume packs abundant energy and demands regular revisiting. (Francisca Goldsmith - Booklist )
Carré’s drawings of swamp reeds, seaweed, and curling locks of hair are luscious and enchanting. (Sasha Watson - Double X )
The solid blacks and blocky grotesquerie of The Lagoon strongly recall Charles Burns’ Black Hole, a story in which adulthood is equated with monstrosity. In The Lagoon, too, sexual maturity and horror are linked. But that link is mediated by a third term—a metaphor, a song. (Noah Berlatsky - Chicago Reader )
An odd yet enchanting story…guaranteed to haunt you well after reading. (Pedro Cabzuelo )
The Lagoon is a horror story, if a low-key one; like much of the best horror it makes the connection between horror and the absurd... Carré's sinuous, snaking treatment of sound provides a through-line... but it still feels disconnected in ways that few writers today are gutsy enough to attempt. The overall effect is like Clive Barker fed through a twee filter. This'll stick to you. (Sean T. Collins )
Simultaneously matter of fact and otherworldly. (Kate Fitzsimons - Publishers Weekly )
The Lagoon is a peculiar book, continually confounding the reader's expectations. It starts out in many ways like a mystery or thriller novel does... But as the book progresses, it turns into a very different beast (no pun intended); a hidden romance, a story about longings, and family relationships... [T]his is a story that feels lush and moody in a way that comics often try to be but rarely succeed... a very solid, well-crafted book, and whatever Carré’s next project is, it’ll be one to keep an eye out for. (Greg McElhatton - Read About Comics )
Carré’s book suggest a sonata of melodic lines and flowing-panel rhythms, with just a hint of sexual menace. (Richard Gehr - The Village Voice )
Cryptic and metaphorical, a mystery that we are not invited to the core of—but the mood the book brings with it lingers on. (John E. Mitchell - North Adams Transcript )
Carré’s drawings of swamp reeds, seaweed, and curling locks of hair are luscious and enchanting. (Sasha Watson - Double X )
The solid blacks and blocky grotesquerie of The Lagoon strongly recall Charles Burns’ Black Hole, a story in which adulthood is equated with monstrosity. In The Lagoon, too, sexual maturity and horror are linked. But that link is mediated by a third term—a metaphor, a song. (Noah Berlatsky - Chicago Reader )
An odd yet enchanting story…guaranteed to haunt you well after reading. (Pedro Cabzuelo )
The Lagoon is a horror story, if a low-key one; like much of the best horror it makes the connection between horror and the absurd... Carré's sinuous, snaking treatment of sound provides a through-line... but it still feels disconnected in ways that few writers today are gutsy enough to attempt. The overall effect is like Clive Barker fed through a twee filter. This'll stick to you. (Sean T. Collins )
Simultaneously matter of fact and otherworldly. (Kate Fitzsimons - Publishers Weekly )
The Lagoon is a peculiar book, continually confounding the reader's expectations. It starts out in many ways like a mystery or thriller novel does... But as the book progresses, it turns into a very different beast (no pun intended); a hidden romance, a story about longings, and family relationships... [T]his is a story that feels lush and moody in a way that comics often try to be but rarely succeed... a very solid, well-crafted book, and whatever Carré’s next project is, it’ll be one to keep an eye out for. (Greg McElhatton - Read About Comics )
Carré’s book suggest a sonata of melodic lines and flowing-panel rhythms, with just a hint of sexual menace. (Richard Gehr - The Village Voice )
Cryptic and metaphorical, a mystery that we are not invited to the core of—but the mood the book brings with it lingers on. (John E. Mitchell - North Adams Transcript )
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