Customer Reviews

Strange Embrace

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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A criminally neglected masterpiece that comfortably sits alongside the most highly regarded comics of the past decade. As a study in malevolence and truly horrific obsession there's nothing to match Strange Embrace in comics. Writer and artist David Hine begins with the psychic Alex Steadman, who murders his parents before becoming a tenant in a vast house owned by the reclusive, broken Anthony Corbeau. Probing his mind as he sleeps, Alex learns of Corbeau's youth, seemingly one of callous indifference to those around him in keeping to a solitary indulgence. As more of Corbeau's family history seeps through, a tragic story is revealed, fleshed out by the hidden diaries of Corbeau's long-deceased wife. Magnificently plotted and considered down to the smallest observations, this deeply disturbing story is ideally matched by Hine's art. Jagged and dark, his choice of African tribal carvings as a recurring motif provides profoundly unsettling primal imagery to counterpoint the preposterously formal turn-of-the-century domestic structure. In a truly graphic novel that's part Joseph Conrad, part E.M. Forster and part Edgar Allen Poe, the shocking events depicted have resonance that remains long after the story concludes. If you're interested in intelligent adult comics you should buy this book.

criminally neglected masterpiece that comfortably sits alongside the most highly regarded comics of the past decade. its awesomely cool work

The Strange Embrace is truly an experience. From page one I was captivated by a strange fascination (a strange embrace if you will...) with the nightmare that was unquestionably about the begin. Nightmare though it is, I feel like this book has a lot to say about human psychology/nature, and doesn't hesitate to show its dark side. While this book does indeed illustrate an extreme of this "dark side", I believe it's a side that is in all of us as human. We are all flawed, and the antagonist in this book preys and feasts on those flaws.

I think many people would find a lot of content in this book offensive. While I caution that there is a lot of material that some might find questionable, I urge future readers to keep an open mind... a VERY open mind. Because whenever the content is extreme, I believe that it is done with purpose. Sometimes extremes are needed to communicate a particular message (as in the case of this book), although if you're easily offended, perhaps this book was not meant for you (or maybe it was... I can't speak for the author).

So far this is the best graphic novel I've read. I couldn't stop reading it! and the style of the drawings really support the story.

A very dark tale with a plot that grabs you. The illustrations are just perfect for the kind of story, not over elavorated, but gloomy and sombre, exactly what the story needs.