Customer Reviews

Silverfish

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

SilverFish is graphic novel thats pretty short but really gripping. Its very teen horror like, (think Scream or early Wes Craven films) were they give you the basic elemnets to create a teen horror.

A. Teens, no BAD teens who smoke and have parties when there parents are away on trips.

B. Seclusion- again parent need a reason to be gone.

C. Mystery- people with fishy backgrounds (really no pun intended)

D. Violence and horror- to give those teens a reason to fear for there lives and give you a really good time.

The story is about a girl who's mother died years ago and her Stepmom which she absolutely hates. Her father and stepmom are going out of town for the weekend and she just so happens to invite her good friend (think Jamie Lee Curtis's friend in Halloween) over. Of course her friend will invite boys and smoke etc. While there they begin to investigate who her Stepmother really is. They basically go Nancy Drew on her ass. If you've been around the block like i have in terms of film then you'll see it coming really really fast, but to those who aren't as seasoned it might come as a surprise.

All in all its a great book.

Lapham is in top form in this dark and absorbing thriller that could easily pass as a spin-off book from his Stray Bullets series. The story revolves around ordinary characters who get caught up in extraordinary circumstances, but unlike a lot of "crime graphic novels" the plot developments seem entirely character driven and thus are that much more believable and thrilling. The striking cover, the memorable characters, the richly evocative setting, the cinematic crime noir artwork and the equal parts humorous/trite/moving final dialogue line all makes for a great package. Fans of Stray Bullets owe it to themselves to check out Silverfish (and vice versa).

It's already been said by someone but this is like a film in graphic format. Written as an OGN there are no cliffhangers every 22 pages. The whole story leaves you gasping for breath. From the start, I was in a state of suspense. Don't start this book unless you have time to finish it. You won't put it down. David Lapham does it again.

This is one of Lapham's best stories! After "Stray Bullets" I was waiting desperately for new material, this is it! must-buy!!!

If you're a fan of David Lapham's Stray Bullets, then you'll Silverfish. The one thing that was very apparent to me was the story's pacing. He has more room to build tension and the psychotic buzz of his characters escalate better.
I hope David does more of these twisted tales like only he can.
All of his characters' dialogue are unique and natural. He knows how to write a young girl to an old lady with dark secrets.
This is a crime tale. No superheroes admitted.

The most annoying part of this graphic novel was the paper it is printed on. After growing accustomed to the roughness of the paper in the softcover editions of Stray Bullets and Murder Me Dead the texture of the paper used in this book estranged me to it, somehow.

But that is a sidenote. What has drawn me to David Laphams stories have been the drawing style and the way characters end up being so incredibly intertwined with each other. This interweaving of stories and narratives isn`t as immediately obvious in Silverfish, due to it being a stand alone work (unless you view these narratives as further elaborations upon themes already visited in his earlier stories). The story is interesting, but for me an element of nerve is removed when the narrative takes place over such a small time frame (24/48 hours).

Perhaps it has to do with my reading style. Let me elaborate. At the same time i bought Silverfish i also bought Bone : One Volume Edition. Silverfish is less than two hundred pages, whilst Bone exceeds one thousand one hundred or so. I spent less than 48 hours on reading Bone from cover to cover without sleeping immediately after purchasing it. Silverfish, on the other hand, has been an on and off affair for the past three months. There is something about the way my previous relation to David Laphams works have been that make me want to halt the narrative at decisive moments. To say it in a manner which might be a bit tasteless, the stories he writes makes me want to be left dangling. And being given the whole story in one book makes this difficult.

But how does it work as narrative? It had me excited at times, it had me scared at times. His descriptions of children left to their own desires for exploration, and the problems/squabbles which might arise during and because of such antics is quite simply marvellous and as truthful/somber as any elaboration of the subject i have ever seen. The fish are just weird, i`d like to gnaw my way into his furry little brain and understand which references he is in possession of in relation to them. I can`t really parse that aspect of the story yet, but the imagery he creates in relation to the experience of a gnawing/nagging element in what one experiences of reality had me nodding my head on many an occation. The family dynamics are also excellent, though some of the characters oscillate between states too quickly for my liking, regardless of how hectic the events in the story is.

This story will grow on me, of that i am sure, and it will grow on everyone who allows themselves the time to enjoy it. I came for the imagery and the storylines, i definitely got what i came for, but it didn`t manage to capture my desire to immediately get to know the ending of the story. (Which might have to do with me overdosing on Bone the previous day.) It was like going for a long and scary walk at night with an old friend. But whilst this friend in Stray Bullets manages to run ahead, hide behind a rock and scare the life out of you he seems to be more interested in staying next to you and tell you scary stories to your face in Silverfish. (Then again, maybe he actually is hiding behind that rock up ahead, no, probably not that one, he`ll be behind the rock immediately after you`ve let down your guard.)

And i really can`t praise his drawing style enough, it is the most hard hitting way of drawing characters i`ve ever come across.