Luna Park [Hardcover]

Kevin Baker (Author), Danijel Zezelj (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 17, 2009

Alik is a former Soviet soldier who has relocated to Coney Island only to become a gangland enforcer. He's haunted by memories of his past, and the only thing that soothes his angst is booze, heroin and his lover, the prostitute Marina. But as much as Alik encourages her to break away from the ganglord who owns her, Marina can't because of her daughter, who never leads the ganglord's side. So Alik comes up with a desperate plan to save all three of them, and in doing so, he'll find he's destined to repeat the past over and over again, including a past or two he might not even be aware he has, in a story that flashes from present- day run down Coney Island to the Russia of 10 years ago during the Second Chechen War to turn of the 20th century Coney Island, when the area was at its peak amusement park glory and wonder.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A Q&A with Kevin Baker

Question: As a bestselling historical fiction writer, how did writing your first graphic novel come about? How did the writing process differ?

Kevin Baker: I have to admit, I hadn’t even thought of trying my hand at graphic novels--I never dreamed I’d be hip enough. But then Peter Tomassi from DC approached me about the idea some years ago, and after some back and forth, hashing out a plot with Peter and Karen Berger, it was a go.

I have to say, I loved the experience. It’s very different from writing novels in that, among other things, you get to leave much of the hard work to the artist--the physical setting, facial expressions, etc. It’s not that it’s easier than novel writing, just very different. You really have to say a lot in just a few words. On the other hand, I’ve always thought very visually when writing novels, so this was a joy to do.

Question: Where did you find your inspiration for Luna Park?

Kevin Baker: Luna Park was inspired by both my longtime love of Coney Island, and history in general. It was Karen Berger, I think, who first suggested I do something based on Coney, and the rest just followed. There are so many stories out there--it’s a shame they’re tearing the place down.

I had written about Coney Island first in my historical novel, Dreamland, but that only scratched the surface. Another inspiration was James Gray’s wonderfully atmospheric, Russian gangster pic, Little Odessa, which makes the most of the modern Coney and Brighton Beach.

Basically, it’s a wonderful ruin, where so many times and stories seem to blend together. Luna Park is long gone--the last of it burned down in 1946--but it was far and away the most beautiful, almost surreal of the three, great, original amusement parks out there. It was designed by this alcoholic impresario and builder of vast follies, a man named Frederick Thompson, who felt there was a need for "manufactured fun" (what an American concept!).

As a result, he filled it with spires, minarets, half-moons, leering animal and clown heads--a whole jumbled of architectural styles that ended up looking like something out of Dr. Seuss. I would think it would be very easy to be disoriented in such a place, to not know what age or place you are in.

Question: Luna Park is full of authentic Russian vocabulary, culture and history. How much research did you do for the book?

Kevin Baker: Not all that much, though I’ve walked through the area many times. Brighton Beach, especially, is one of the last, great ethnic neighborhoods left in New York, and it’s a treat to go through the neighborhood and soak up the atmosphere.

Some years back, I did take a good friend out there for a bachelor party at a club called "Rasputin’s," which I believe is still open. What a place! It was as if someone had taken all of Russian and American culture for the past hundred years, shaken it up in a grab bag, then let loose. The floor show was everything from a chorus line, to contortionists, to giant, pantomine figures, to singers. Then, from time to time, they’d put on some disco and everybody would get up and dance.

At your table, they would bring you a big pitcher of Coca-Cola, and a big pitcher of orange soda, and you were expected to order a bottle of vodka, or three. Then they brought out platter after platter of various Russian appetizers, most of them delicious. Then, more disco. It was hysterical. Whole families were there together, in the lobby there was an actual messenger boy, dressed up in a cap and braided jacket like somebody from an American hotel fifty years ago...

Again, it was as if all of time had come together, that same, amazing mixture of cultures that has always defined Coney Island.

Beyond that, I did look up a few, basic, Russian vocabulary words. Most of the history and culture comes from my general knowledge garnered about Russia over the years. It’s funny, the country really is like the polar opposite of the United States. Instead of being isolated by two oceans, it has always been surrounded by enemies. And nothing ever works out.

Question: Danijel Zezelj’s incredible art throughout Luna Park depicts modern day New York, the magic of Coney Island in the 1910s and the devastation of the Second Chechen War. What was it like working with him and seeing your script translated into a graphic novel?

Kevin Baker: Yes, his art really is incredible. We worked very well together, I thought. While I wrote the script first, I thought it was very important--graphic novels being such a visual medium--that he take the lead. Also, of course, he has much more experience in the field. As much as possible, I let him reshape my ideas for each page, and I think he did a brilliant job. I also thought the coloring, by Dave Stewart, was terrific.

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From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Taking a break (mostly) from his powerful and painstakingly constructed stories of historical New York in novels like Dreamland and Paradise Alley, Baker takes a welcome dive into the graphic novel field with this punchy and ghostly modern-day noir. The setting—today's rusted and listless landscape of Coney Island—fits the dead-end daydreaming of his protagonist. Alik Streinikov is a former Russian soldier fleeing nightmares of the cruelties he witnessed in Chechnya and now working as an enforcer for a sideshow mob fragment that's about to get pushed out by a more vicious gang. Alik's already iffy toehold on society's ladder is complicated by a serious drug habit and worse addiction to Marina, a hooker/fortune teller whose every card reads like bad news. Marina keeps reminding Alik of his nightmares, and before long he's spiraling through alternative pasts (from early 20th-century New York to the Russian civil war), which repeat the same inescapable tragedies. The artwork by Zezelj (Northlanders) has a windswept, slashing quality to it that captures Coney Island's bitter, salty ocean air on the page. A tough-nosed crime story redolent with magic and sadness, Luna Park serves as a fine showcase for two great artists working to the best of their abilities. (Nov.)
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Vertigo (November 17, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 140121584X
• ISBN-13: 978-1401215842
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 0.7 x 10.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #819,253 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scraps from the Cold War with Betrayal, November 20, 2009

By 

Richard C. Geschke "In search of History!!" (Bristol, Ct) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Luna Park (Hardcover)

Having lived and worked in and around the South beaches in Brooklyn, I became intrigued with the title of this graphic novel. Reading this fast moving and realistic depiction of Russian mob influence conducted in New York, I sensed Kevin Baker's accurate detail and Danijel Zezelj's accurate nuance of Coney Island and of Russian culture.
In essence Mr. Baker combines Luna Park, Russian wiseguys and a long gone historical prospective all rolled into a gripping and realistic adventure. Zezelj's art work metaphorically represents the long gone darkness of "Cold War" Russia and also serves to depict the faded glory days of "old" Coney Island. Baker's main characters in Alik Strelnikov and his lover Marina tells of the desperate dichotomy this couple faces in trying to break away from the old ways.
In Baker's narrative, we see a new more brutal "Mafia" roaming the old haunts of Sicilian ghosts. The Russian mob spares nothing and gives absolutely no quarter. Russians of the "Cold War" era have no sense of "family" nor are restricted by the conscience of religion.
Weaving into this scenario, Baker brings in the old grandeur of 1910's New York. Along with Zezelj's subtle and beautiful dark art, we are taken to a place where Baker calls all the shots and we as readers go along for the ride. The narrative takes on a dreamlike quality with rapidly moving scenarios. In the end Baker gives an ending which represents a thought provoking extension to a time when in America the earth stood still.
Fantastic ride it is! I don't have enough stars for this one!!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Russian Gangsters Get Surreal in Brooklyn, November 1, 2010

By 

A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Luna Park (Hardcover)

Stories about ex-Soviet gangsters in Brooklyn are kind of a trope at this point (especially in film), but this graphic novel offers them up in a new format with some striking artwork. Alik is a Russian veteran of the war in Chechnya who has come to Brooklyn to try and escape his dark past, which includes the loss of his true love. However, he's found escape of the wrong sort in heroin, and works as an enforcer for a small time Russian hoodlum. He's also obsessed with a beautiful fellow Russian hooker/fortune-teller who is in thrall to a powerful Russian mobster. While this all sounds straightforward, there are also surreal shifts back in time to what seem to be previous incarnations of him and his lover/wife, which seem to all end in (and foreshadow) tragedy. These dark dreams alternate with the mounting feud between Alik's overconfident boss and the more ruthless mobster who owns his lover, all leading inevitably toward a Coney Island shootout. What might have been a well-told, but routine, crime story is made into something more lasting and mournful through the use of these flashbacks and the amazing artwork. The artist is Croatian and he brings a European sensibility to it that lends the story a distinctive quality perfectly in sync with the story New York novelist Baker (Dreamland, Paradise Alley) has created. Definitely worth checking out by those interested in very dark stories and artwork.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic in both senses of the word, December 15, 2009

By 

Sheila Martin (Memphis, TN USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Luna Park (Hardcover)

I'm a writer and illustrator of fiction myself and Coney Island is one of my favorite settings, so when I head the NPR interview with Kevin Baker I ordered "Luna Park" immediately and waited with anticipation for it to come. I was not disappointed. The story is compelling with unexpected twists brought even more to life by the dramatic artwork. I know I will keep coming back to it. Kevin Baker is also the author of "Dreamland," a more realistic depiction of Coney Island, (of a century ago) and another wonderful novel and inspiration for my work.