Introducing the untold tale of the international conspiracy behind the murder of Gregorii Rasputin! Set during the height of the first World War, the tale follows a reluctant British spy stationed in the heart of the Russian empire as he is handed the most difficult assignment of his career: orchestrate the death of the mad monk, the Tsarina's most trusted adviser and the surrogate ruler of the nation. The mission will take our hero from the slums of the working class into the opulent houses of the super rich... he'll have to negotiate dangerous ties with the secret police, navigate the halls of power, and come to terms with own revolutionary leanings, all while simply trying to survive! Based on historical documents and research, Petrograd is a tense, edge-of-your seat spy thriller, taking the reader on a journey through the background of one of history's most infamous assassinations, set against the backdrop of one of the most tumultuous moments in 20th century history.
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In this historical thriller, Gelatt and Crook vividly depict the 1916 events in Russia that led to the murder of Rasputin. Gelatt carefully weaves together several threads into a tense, taut tale, as peasants, members of the Russian aristocracy, and the British Secret Service plot to kill the Mad Monk. This version is inspired by a longstanding rumor that a British spy participated in the assassination--a rumor that has recently developed more historical credence through the discovery of forensic evidence. Crook is a rising comics star; his sepia artwork, full of shadows, sharp angles, and anguished expressions, does much of the storytelling; particularly noteworthy are the panels without dialogue that brilliantly portray the complex emotions of a people at war and on the verge of revolution. --Publishers Weekly
The past couple of years, I've developed an affinity for non-fiction comics. They have all the elements of the medium that I enjoy, plus I usually learn something from them. Closely related to non-fiction is historical fiction. Typically, these take elements of history and try to tell stories around the periphery. They try to give a feel of what things were like for the people who don't show up in the history books.
That's where Phil Gelatt and Tyler Crook's upcoming graphic novel, Petrograd, comes from. It's set primarily in Russia during World War I. Agent Cleary, a British spy, is trying to keep tabs on things from his connections with the Russian secret police and, where possible, push events in directions that are more favorable towards Great Britain. It's in this fashion he picks up on some drunken ramblings of Prince Felix Yusupov, who suggested killing Grigori Rasputin to quit his influence on the Tsaritsa. Cleary nudges the plot forward and, despite his efforts to remain removed from the assassination attempt, winds up in the final struggle. Cleary is then sold out to the police, with the British government claiming he's gone rogue. Cleary manages to escape but is left to try to start a new life for himself.
Almost any story involving the death of Rasputin is going to contain some element of fiction. First-hand accounts at the time varied, and the original documents were destroyed in one fashion or another. Further, his reputation at the time suggested he had magic powers and it was easy for people to believe exaggerated stories about him. Consequently, we don't definitively know how he died.
What Gelatt and Crook have done, then, is take the best information that's available, and try to craft a compelling, logical tale around that. The secret service, the involvement of the Prince, the motives... all of that fits in just about perfectly with what we do know. From what I've gleaned, the only significant change is that Cleary appears to be a fictional stand-in for someone named Oswald Rayner. But otherwise, it all seems pretty accurate. So, while this is technically historical fiction, it's probably closer to non-fiction than many other supposedly non-fiction books and, from that sense, was incredibly fascinating for me.
The artwork is beautifully rendered in orange/red duotones throughout. I did have a little difficulty discerning individuals in a few scenes where people were bundled up heavily to ward off the cold outside (that a couple were cross-dressers didn't help matters) but considering how little I knew of Rasputin and Russia's involvement in WWI prior to reading this, it still wasn't that difficult to follow along. Certainly, once the story got rolling and I established who all the characters were -- about two dozen pages in -- things progressed along nicely. Although that two dozen pages might sound like a lot, keep in mind that the whole book is 274 pages long and the actual murder of Rasputin, beginning with his first sip of poison, takes over 40 pages.
All in all, I quite enjoyed the book. I think it's an excellent example of taking real events to tell a gripping story. Especially in light of how much Rasputin floats in the public perception as this vague and mysterious, almost mythical, villain, I think Petrograd does a superb job of showing what people really thought of him and what he was really like. Oh, he's still plenty villainous, and that helps to make this a compelling story, but he's villainous in a decidedly more debauchedly human way than he's often depicted. Writers don't NEED to make embellishments to make Rasputin the bad guy, and that's part of what makes Petrograd successful. --Kleefeld on Comics
The past couple of years, I've developed an affinity for non-fiction comics. They have all the elements of the medium that I enjoy, plus I usually learn something from them. Closely related to non-fiction is historical fiction. Typically, these take elements of history and try to tell stories around the periphery. They try to give a feel of what things were like for the people who don't show up in the history books.
That's where Phil Gelatt and Tyler Crook's upcoming graphic novel, Petrograd, comes from. It's set primarily in Russia during World War I. Agent Cleary, a British spy, is trying to keep tabs on things from his connections with the Russian secret police and, where possible, push events in directions that are more favorable towards Great Britain. It's in this fashion he picks up on some drunken ramblings of Prince Felix Yusupov, who suggested killing Grigori Rasputin to quit his influence on the Tsaritsa. Cleary nudges the plot forward and, despite his efforts to remain removed from the assassination attempt, winds up in the final struggle. Cleary is then sold out to the police, with the British government claiming he's gone rogue. Cleary manages to escape but is left to try to start a new life for himself.
Almost any story involving the death of Rasputin is going to contain some element of fiction. First-hand accounts at the time varied, and the original documents were destroyed in one fashion or another. Further, his reputation at the time suggested he had magic powers and it was easy for people to believe exaggerated stories about him. Consequently, we don't definitively know how he died.
What Gelatt and Crook have done, then, is take the best information that's available, and try to craft a compelling, logical tale around that. The secret service, the involvement of the Prince, the motives... all of that fits in just about perfectly with what we do know. From what I've gleaned, the only significant change is that Cleary appears to be a fictional stand-in for someone named Oswald Rayner. But otherwise, it all seems pretty accurate. So, while this is technically historical fiction, it's probably closer to non-fiction than many other supposedly non-fiction books and, from that sense, was incredibly fascinating for me.
The artwork is beautifully rendered in orange/red duotones throughout. I did have a little difficulty discerning individuals in a few scenes where people were bundled up heavily to ward off the cold outside (that a couple were cross-dressers didn't help matters) but considering how little I knew of Rasputin and Russia's involvement in WWI prior to reading this, it still wasn't that difficult to follow along. Certainly, once the story got rolling and I established who all the characters were -- about two dozen pages in -- things progressed along nicely. Although that two dozen pages might sound like a lot, keep in mind that the whole book is 274 pages long and the actual murder of Rasputin, beginning with his first sip of poison, takes over 40 pages.
All in all, I quite enjoyed the book. I think it's an excellent example of taking real events to tell a gripping story. Especially in light of how much Rasputin floats in the public perception as this vague and mysterious, almost mythical, villain, I think Petrograd does a superb job of showing what people really thought of him and what he was really like. Oh, he's still plenty villainous, and that helps to make this a compelling story, but he's villainous in a decidedly more debauchedly human way than he's often depicted. Writers don't NEED to make embellishments to make Rasputin the bad guy, and that's part of what makes Petrograd successful. --Kleefeld on Comics
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Petrograd by Philip Gelatt (art by Tyler Crook) is a graphic novel about an assassination. The graphic novels tells about an international conspiracy behind the murder of Gregorii Rasputin.
World War I is ravaging the world. Hunger, depression and despair reign while only hard core revolutionaries at the bottom of the food chain and those in the upper echelons of government cling to a drop of hope.
The powers that be think that Rasputin is urging the royal family to make a separate peace pact withGermany, which will free them to fight the war againstEngland. Cleary, an unenthusiastic English spy is stationed inRussiaand has been given the most difficult assignment of his career: plan and devise the assassination of Gregorii Rasputin, the most trusted advisor of the Tsarina.
The graphic novel Petrograd by Philip Gelatt (art by Tyler Crook) is more of a historical thriller than anything else. The death of Gregorii Rasputin has generated much controversy at the time and many more conspiracy theories which are always fun and supply fodder for authors.
The story, while fictional, seems realistic enough to have actually happen (almost). Somehow Mr. Crook took the blighted atmosphere which authors try very hard to create and drew it. While I'm sure that many creative licenses were taken, as they are in every historical novel, I still enjoyed the story immensely.
But don't let the words "graphic novel" fool you. Petrograd takes historical facts (as seen by Americans) and re-tells the story in the format of an espionage thriller. The sepia tones of the artwork well match the grayness of the spy world where the line between good and bad is impossible to distinguish.
The narrative is fast paced and efficient. Mr. Gelatt works around the era it is designed to introduce, but does not get too bogged down. What I really loved about the book that Rasputin, while a major player in the book, is always on the sidelines of the story but influences almost every action of every character. There are some complex issues introduced in the book (hunger, despair, monarchy, revolution and more) but the story manages to address them without lecturing.
The art in the graphic novel is both bleak and gorgeous. The pictures, mostly in sepia tones tell the story in vivid detail and compliment the espionage aspect of the book. As in every successful graphic novels, the combination of art and words complimenting each other is done magnificently with care and attention to detail.
The packaging itself is well done and worthy of the price tag. The hard cover makes a wonderful presentation, the pages are on thick paper, printed clearly and are a pleasure to read and look through.
World War I is ravaging the world. Hunger, depression and despair reign while only hard core revolutionaries at the bottom of the food chain and those in the upper echelons of government cling to a drop of hope.
The powers that be think that Rasputin is urging the royal family to make a separate peace pact withGermany, which will free them to fight the war againstEngland. Cleary, an unenthusiastic English spy is stationed inRussiaand has been given the most difficult assignment of his career: plan and devise the assassination of Gregorii Rasputin, the most trusted advisor of the Tsarina.
The graphic novel Petrograd by Philip Gelatt (art by Tyler Crook) is more of a historical thriller than anything else. The death of Gregorii Rasputin has generated much controversy at the time and many more conspiracy theories which are always fun and supply fodder for authors.
The story, while fictional, seems realistic enough to have actually happen (almost). Somehow Mr. Crook took the blighted atmosphere which authors try very hard to create and drew it. While I'm sure that many creative licenses were taken, as they are in every historical novel, I still enjoyed the story immensely.
But don't let the words "graphic novel" fool you. Petrograd takes historical facts (as seen by Americans) and re-tells the story in the format of an espionage thriller. The sepia tones of the artwork well match the grayness of the spy world where the line between good and bad is impossible to distinguish.
The narrative is fast paced and efficient. Mr. Gelatt works around the era it is designed to introduce, but does not get too bogged down. What I really loved about the book that Rasputin, while a major player in the book, is always on the sidelines of the story but influences almost every action of every character. There are some complex issues introduced in the book (hunger, despair, monarchy, revolution and more) but the story manages to address them without lecturing.
The art in the graphic novel is both bleak and gorgeous. The pictures, mostly in sepia tones tell the story in vivid detail and compliment the espionage aspect of the book. As in every successful graphic novels, the combination of art and words complimenting each other is done magnificently with care and attention to detail.
The packaging itself is well done and worthy of the price tag. The hard cover makes a wonderful presentation, the pages are on thick paper, printed clearly and are a pleasure to read and look through.
By A. DeClercq
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
for the graphic novel lover, for the reader, for the historian. This book is the whole deal. I fully enjoyed this book, and it is well researched.
By C. Ricci
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I initially bought this book for three reasons: I like comics, I have a passing interest in Russian history, and it was cheap.
I ended up getting a lot for my money. Oni Press really cares, and did a beautiful job putting this book together. It's sturdy and pretty to look at.
More importantly, it's a damn good story and its well-told. The art and the writing are excellent individually, but even trickier, they also complement each other beautifully. I was really impressed by Gelatt and Crook, although I wasn't familiar with any of their other work. I hope they do more together.
The book does an excellent job showing the complicated nature of Russian politics at the time by creating a fictional American agent at the heart of the conflict. As a foreigner, he maintains a distance from the politics, but he also has an indirect stake in both sides. While he's clearly designed to serve a function, letting the creators have some fun playing around in otherwise fairly accurate history, he stands well as a realized character with a compelling arc in a gripping story. This would be tricky in a prose story, in a comic it's plain impressive. Most importantly, it's entertaining. I read it in one sit-through, although that wasn't my plan before I got into it.
I have to say, for my money, this is an example of comics as a medium at its best. The book is a compelling argument for the end of the superhero stranglehold on the American comics industry. Again, I hope these two work together again soon.
I ended up getting a lot for my money. Oni Press really cares, and did a beautiful job putting this book together. It's sturdy and pretty to look at.
More importantly, it's a damn good story and its well-told. The art and the writing are excellent individually, but even trickier, they also complement each other beautifully. I was really impressed by Gelatt and Crook, although I wasn't familiar with any of their other work. I hope they do more together.
The book does an excellent job showing the complicated nature of Russian politics at the time by creating a fictional American agent at the heart of the conflict. As a foreigner, he maintains a distance from the politics, but he also has an indirect stake in both sides. While he's clearly designed to serve a function, letting the creators have some fun playing around in otherwise fairly accurate history, he stands well as a realized character with a compelling arc in a gripping story. This would be tricky in a prose story, in a comic it's plain impressive. Most importantly, it's entertaining. I read it in one sit-through, although that wasn't my plan before I got into it.
I have to say, for my money, this is an example of comics as a medium at its best. The book is a compelling argument for the end of the superhero stranglehold on the American comics industry. Again, I hope these two work together again soon.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful!
This book had beautiful binding, a well written story and fantastic art. I enjoyed it immensely and I think other readers will too!
Published 6 months ago by Onrie Kompan
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautifully-illustrated and enjoyable
I appreciate the amount of work Gelatt and Crook put into this book. I'm a bit of a Russia buff, though more 19th century than 20th, and was completely enthralled by the book,... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Cthulhu Chick
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautifully illustrated
The story is great, very compelling and kept my attention throughout. Rasputin is such a compelling character, and the story really is enjoyable. But, the artwork is awesome. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Steven Paulsen
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting take
This graphic novel looks at the murder of Rasputin, the mad monk who held sway over the Romanov's during WWI... with terrible consequences for Russia. Read more
Published 15 months ago by James D. Crabtree
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting way to tell a story
I've never read a book that seems like I am reading an old comic book that just goes on and on. The entire book is sketched scenes with dialogue (this is not the normal text... Read more
Published 19 months ago by LD
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