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The Boulevard of Broken Dreams (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "DEC 22, 1934. THE DEATH OF WINSOR NEWTON..." (more)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

One of the godfathers of American underground comics, Deitch grew up among animators, and this graphic novel is his twisted allegorical history of the rise and fall of American animation. Spanning from 1927 (when theatrical cartoons began to hit their stride) to 1993, it's crammed with intrigue, mysteries and Deitch's trademark exploding page layout. The story concerns a close-knit group of employees of a minor animation studio, Fontaine Talking Fables, but it's driven by a malevolent talking cat named Waldo who's just real enough to drive some of the cartoonists who created him into alcoholism and madness. (Waldo's been appearing in one form or another in Deitch's work for 35 years.) It helps to know a bit about animation history to catch some of the jokes (animator Winsor Newton and his creation Milton the Mastodon, for instance, are clearly inspired by Winsor McCay and Gertie the Dinosaur). But even without this knowledge, the culture of the studios comes across clearly and the story's complicated chronology is remarkably engaging, albeit weirdly paced. Deitch has an odd, idiosyncratic visual style: his real-world characters are crudely two-dimensional, but they're drawn into distinctly un-cartoony tableaux of squalor and shadow. His funny animal characters, meanwhile, have all the squishable malleability of their silver-screen counterparts with an additional tinge of dark Surrealism.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-Using sequential art to create a story about sequential art, Deitch gives readers fact-pickled fiction. Ted Mishkin's years in the animation industry are riddled with his personal mental health problems-which extend to hallucinating an evil cat, Waldo-as well as changes in popular interest in sequential art and the Disney empire's efforts to dominate the creative pool. Ted, his hero Winsor Newton, his studio boss Fred Fontaine, his true love Lillian, and a supporting cast of family and fans reveal how corporate concerns and mass culture took the edge off an art that once had a political and aesthetically experimental keenness. This is a complex story, replete with tawdry affairs, binge drinking, and sanitarium stays, but it is not crude or exploitative of either its characters or its readers. The black-and-white art is giddy with movement and detail, with Waldo waxing beguiling and malignant by appropriate turns in Ted's life of broken dreams. Lillian, who loses one lover in flagrante delicto, ages physically but becomes more beloved by all as the story draws to its Waldo-sealed conclusion. She is a particularly engaging character in a world in which men too often use women as extensions of themselves. A host of American studies issues are addressed here, including the history of the entertainment industry, alcoholism's status in 20th-century America, the lonely life of the creative genius as a cultural motif, and more.
Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 160 pages
  • Publisher: Pantheon; 1 edition (September 24, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0375421912
  • ISBN-13: 978-0375421914
  • Product Dimensions: 8 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #409,204 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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More About the Author

Kim Deitch
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First Sentence:
DEC 22, 1934. THE DEATH OF WINSOR NEWTON. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
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 (1)
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Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, October 22, 2002
This is a wonderful book by underground artist Kim Deitch. Deitch's b&w artwork is early-20th-century-cartoonish yet extremely inticate. I found myself first reading a couple of pages, then going back and visually deciphering everything that was going on in (and around and through) the panels. Not for kids, this is definitely an adult tale. If you are a fan of the works of Charles Burns, Art Spiegelman, Kaz, et al, then this book is for you!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Kings don't mean a thing on the boulevard of dreams..., October 10, 2005
By Karen Loo. (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
Boulevard of Broken Dreams is a fascinating comic about the steady decline of an animator named Ted and the industry into which he breathed new life. An animation company of the '30s era creates "Waldo the Cat" shorts, but with the rise of Disney, the company tosses originality in favor of the cutesy watered-down style that has become so popular. New bosses, scandal, and tragedy rides the degradation of the cartoons all the way into the '90s. And all the while, Ted is tormented by hallucinations of the cartoon cat he created. This is the twisted story that Deitch has woven.

And it's a good one, to be sure. From Ted's mind springs a popping, psychedelic world brimming with confusion and madness. While Ted is engulfed by his delusions, the people around him, his shifty brother Al, his uncertain romantic interest Lillian, and the aging great Winsor Newton all face the harsh realities of a business that loses its heart. The story makes references to classic animators, so cartoon history buffs can enjoy a few in-jokes. Tension and mystery abound, and it's a wonderful story for those who understand alienation or like a bit of bizarro reading.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read, November 5, 2003
By Joseph W. Annabi "HippoSexxxy" (www.SparklingSeahorse.com) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
One of the very best comic stories I've ever read. The art is amazing. The layouts from page to page are staggering in their creativity. The story itself is meshed so much with historical elements from early animation that you don't know where the fiction begins. The story is quite compelling, and very dark. Reads like non-fiction, if it were possible. This book will stay with you long after you put it down. Highest recommendation for anyone, comic fan or not.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars a rich multilayer and dark story
Kim Deitch is telling a deep and dark story of how the life of a comic artist turned out. As said, it's a dark story, not only because of the heavy black penciling but especially... Read more
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5.0 out of 5 stars One of the few artists who can bring qualities of animation to the printed page
Kim Deitch is one of the great "underground" cartoonists, one of the artists whose groundbreaking work in the sixties and early seventies broke taboos against adult subject matter... Read more
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5.0 out of 5 stars I smoked a cigarette while reading this book.
I don't smoke, but I felt compelled to smoke while reading this book JUST to add to the cool facade that reading this was creating. Read more
Published on December 8, 2003 by Patrick McGee

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