I read an awful lot of comic books and graphic novels in 2005, from superheroes to independent comics. But when I look back at the one that haunts me the most, I can only think about the astounding, groundbreaking French graphic novel Epileptic by David B.
This hefty, 300-plus-page, black-and-white tome collects years of work by the French cartoonist, now in a handsome edition translated into English for the first time. It's as far from "Bam! Zap! Pow!" comics as you can get, a sprawling, mythic family history by David (born Pierre-Francois Beauchard) of his life and his older brother's struggles with epilepsy. His brother's illness defines an entire family, as David's parents struggle to find a cure — through science, mysticism, religion, cults and more.
Epileptic defies easy description. It's a coming-of-age tale, an artist's awakening, a family memoir and a meditation on storytelling itself. David's art is deceptive. On first glance, it's primitive and simple. But then you realize the sheer craft that's gone into it. David shifts styles, from thin, sketchy intricate linework, to thick, impressionistic landscapes, each panel with the crisp clarity and strangeness of a woodcut. Reality and imagination flow and shift within each other, as David gives literal form to the illnesses and fears dominating his family's thoughts. It's full of symbolism, yet not in an overly intrusive way.
David is open and honest about his own flaws and failures in dealing with his brother. The art is far more than a tool for telling the story – in a lot of ways, it is the story, shifting and mutating as David's own perspectives change. This may make Epileptic sound like a cold exercise, but it's hard to convey the warmth and passion of it, and it has a conclusion that will gently break your heart.
Not to get too hyperbolic, but like Watchmen, like Maus, like Jimmy Corrigan, Epileptic advances the very medium, changing the way I think about comics and their potential. It's a book that contains endless layers, and it's utterly remarkable. I'm already planning to read it again, and encourage any lover of fine graphic novels to seek it out.
Article comments
1 - Eric Berlin
Great review, Nik. Graphic novels are just something I've never found myself drawn to (ha ha), much as ni the same way my childhood was spent among friends going on about this or that comic book. However, I know that I'm missing something, and a review such as this nails home the point.
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