34 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
All Signal, No Noise in This Early Gaiman/McKean Tale, May 2, 2000
This review is from: Signal to Noise (Paperback)
Before Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean introduced American comic book fans to the joys of sophisticated suspense, they cemented their collaborative vision in "Signal to Noise", a decidedly literary use of the comic art form.
If you're looking for spandex-clad Barbie dolls flouncing about and sending off the occasional barrage of soap opera dialogue, look elsewhere. If you're into ancient gods and horror beyond compare, you won't find it here.
But if you're literary jones is only sated by the kind of extraordinary-ordinary situations real people experience in the real world from time to time, the kind of story which stays with you long after you've returned the book to its shelf, stick around awhile.
"Signal to Noise" is the story of a screenwriter racing against the clock to finish his final screenplay. It is also the story of simple peasants waiting for the world to end at the dawn of the second millenium. It is also the story of the immortality of art. It is all these things and more; which will surprise exactly none of Gaiman's fans, familiar as they are with his flair for layered storytelling.
The art is a revelation. I had previously been of the opinion that Dave McKean's distinctive art style evolved during his Sandman run, building on his "Arkham Asylum" work. I was clearly mistaken: "Signal to Noise" is classic McKean; that is, the artwork is unlike anything you've seen before yet does not draw focus away from the story itself.
I have studiously avoided commenting on the plot. When I first read "Signal to Noise," I was completely ignorant of the plot and thus found it to be simply astounding, rather like my experience upon reading Alan Moore's "V for Vendetta" for the first time. That the funny books so rightly derided by many could prove to be such an effective medium for true art is hard to believe. See for yourself what great writers and illustrators at the top of their game can accomplish. Pick up "Signal to Noise" now, and have your faith in comics reaffirmed.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of Neil's Best Works, April 13, 1999
This review is from: Signal to Noise (Paperback)
This may be Neil's best non-Sandman book. It is not a happy book. It is serious and it is literature. A director in his final days on earth writes a screenplay about the end of the world--in 999 A.D. In truth, it is about our contemporary society and what life means within that realm. The title refers to the book (Signal to Noise) as the signal, and our contemporary society as the white noise that it points us toward and tries to help us understand. It doubles as it refers to the script that the director is writing in the same fashion. Remember that the script hasn't been made into a movie yet at which point it will be both signal and noise. Indeed, the artistic medium that the director works with is very symbolic of all the white noise in American society (or British for that matter). A previous reader who did not understand the title or the book gave it a negative review on the first edition of the book that was originally offered on Amazon. That's sad.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stark and unsettling, but beautifully done., October 17, 2000
This review is from: Signal to Noise (Paperback)
This is early work for both Gaiman and McKean, but it's as good as anything else I've seen them do. The text and art combine seamlessly to illustrate the theme - meaningful signal, contrasted with meaningless noise - in the story of a film director dying. Although it has no supernatural elements at all, in some ways this story comes across as an earlier and starker version of 'The Sound Of Her Wings'.
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