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Raptor: A Sokol Graphic Novel
A visual tour-de-force graphic novel from artist and writer Dave McKean ( Black Dog , The Sandman ).
The Raptor, Sokol, flickers between two a feudal fantastical landscape where he must hunt prey to survive, and Wales in the late 1800s where a writer of supernatural tales mourns the passing of his young wife. He exists between two states, the human and the hawk. He lives in the twilight between truth and lies, life and death, reality and the imagination.
World Fantasy, Harvey, British Science Fiction Association, and V+A Book Award winner Dave McKean's first creator-owned character is a wandering spirit for our times.
The Raptor, Sokol, flickers between two a feudal fantastical landscape where he must hunt prey to survive, and Wales in the late 1800s where a writer of supernatural tales mourns the passing of his young wife. He exists between two states, the human and the hawk. He lives in the twilight between truth and lies, life and death, reality and the imagination.
World Fantasy, Harvey, British Science Fiction Association, and V+A Book Award winner Dave McKean's first creator-owned character is a wandering spirit for our times.
128 pages, Paperback
Published July 27, 2021
About the author
Dave McKean
432 books656 followersDave McKean is a world-renowned artist, designer, and film director who has illustrated several books for children, including The Savage by David Almond, and Coraline, The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, and The Wolves in the Wall, all by Neil Gaiman. Dave McKean lives in England.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
August 6, 2022
I'm a big fan of Dave McKean's work - especially the books he made with Neil Gaiman, and of course Cages, which McKean also wrote.
His work (and Gaiman's writing) was one of the first I read in the 90s that showed me how layered comics could be. To say it was an eye-opener for me, is an understatement.
So! A new book by McKean, drawn and written by the man. The pressure is almost unbearable.
And it's beautiful. That is to say, the art is, as always, extraordinary. It has McKean's typical style, of almost abstracted figures, of almost photographically realistic backgrounds, playing with colour and perspective.
And then there is the writing, and the story.. and it's not that great. It is very wordy, McKean clearly has gone out of his way to use outmoded words. Not a bad thing in itself, but its manneredness is quite in your face.
So we have a 19th century writer who has recently lost his wife, who is wrestling with that loss and his own writing. And there's another world where a being called Sokol helps villages with their monster problems (including one monster who cries "cofveve", to my cringey horror). They are connected, but not in a very interesting way, I found. The writer seeks out a cult, not so much to get back his wife, but more how cults prey on lost souls, I think..? It doesn't really go anywhere.
Come for the art, and resolutely stay for the art alone.
(Thanks to Dark Horse Books for providing me with an ARC through Edelweiss)
His work (and Gaiman's writing) was one of the first I read in the 90s that showed me how layered comics could be. To say it was an eye-opener for me, is an understatement.
So! A new book by McKean, drawn and written by the man. The pressure is almost unbearable.
And it's beautiful. That is to say, the art is, as always, extraordinary. It has McKean's typical style, of almost abstracted figures, of almost photographically realistic backgrounds, playing with colour and perspective.
And then there is the writing, and the story.. and it's not that great. It is very wordy, McKean clearly has gone out of his way to use outmoded words. Not a bad thing in itself, but its manneredness is quite in your face.
So we have a 19th century writer who has recently lost his wife, who is wrestling with that loss and his own writing. And there's another world where a being called Sokol helps villages with their monster problems (including one monster who cries "cofveve", to my cringey horror). They are connected, but not in a very interesting way, I found. The writer seeks out a cult, not so much to get back his wife, but more how cults prey on lost souls, I think..? It doesn't really go anywhere.
Come for the art, and resolutely stay for the art alone.
(Thanks to Dark Horse Books for providing me with an ARC through Edelweiss)
August 14, 2021
As with most of Dave McKean's comics, it's all about the art. He's a master at shifting styles and mixing media and layers. The story is honestly quite boring and doesn't always make sense. McKean likes to ramble on with flowery words that say nothing in that 90's Vertigo comics way. Oh, but that art.
September 24, 2021
Twenty Five 'Reviews' In One Day: Book 11!
Dave McKean is one of my favourite artists so any new book from him is met with great excitement from me. To find that said new book is intended to be the first in a series is cause for great celebration in my house!
The art is as stunningly beautiful as you'd expect from McKean. I'd happily have any page of this book blown up and framed on my living room wall. His use of mixed media to create scenes which straddle the border between reality and a hypnotic, dreamlike state is nothing short of genius. He's employing a limited palette here and the use of colour is truly sublime.
The plot is non-traditional, also as you'd expect from McKean, and leaves you wondering how much of what we're seeing is real and if those terms even apply in this scenario. It actually reminded me a little of Hellboy In Hell, without actually being much like it on the surface level.
I'll definitely be returning to this one again and again... much like I already do with his previous books.
My next book: The Summer Children
Dave McKean is one of my favourite artists so any new book from him is met with great excitement from me. To find that said new book is intended to be the first in a series is cause for great celebration in my house!
The art is as stunningly beautiful as you'd expect from McKean. I'd happily have any page of this book blown up and framed on my living room wall. His use of mixed media to create scenes which straddle the border between reality and a hypnotic, dreamlike state is nothing short of genius. He's employing a limited palette here and the use of colour is truly sublime.
The plot is non-traditional, also as you'd expect from McKean, and leaves you wondering how much of what we're seeing is real and if those terms even apply in this scenario. It actually reminded me a little of Hellboy In Hell, without actually being much like it on the surface level.
I'll definitely be returning to this one again and again... much like I already do with his previous books.
My next book: The Summer Children
August 12, 2021
After all these years, I'm still a little baffled by Dave McKean. His illustration for the Sandman series is iconic and his approach to Batman and his rogues gallery in Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth has stuck with me for a long time. However, once untethered from the DC Comics Label, his abstract artwork and solo storytelling make me feel like I've barely grasped the themes at play.
Raptor is a great example of this. This graphic novel merits multiple re-reads because of its resonant subtlety. There are two protagonists at the heart of it: Sokol, the travelling hawker-for-hire who will deal with supernatural threats for board and lodging, and Arthur, the bereaved fantasy writer who uses the pen to exorcise his intrinsic demons. One makes a violent discovery of a corrupting coin and the other has a profound experience at an occultist society ritual. Their narratives intertwine and what initially seems like one character forming another, suddenly goes both ways. Mirrors are a vital aspect of Raptor.
This is a book that requires the reader's full attention from the start. I struggled with the initial pages due to the prevalence of unfamiliar but beautiful words (e.g. 'imbricated', 'mycelial', 'oolitic', 'hummadruz' etc) and the surreal splashes of colour. Thankfully the plot became tangible soon after that, though still packed with meaning and mystery. By the halfway point, I was engrossed though not entirely comfortably.
Then again that's probably by design. McKean specialises in the stylistically crooked and blurry: every other panel looks as if it has been glimpsed in a dream. That is the allure of his art, why he is such a well-respected creator. Seeing McKean pioneer a graphic novel on his own is very pleasing to see though, like any great artwork, you need to return to it to update your appreciation. I suspect I will.
Raptor is a magical read with all the necessary bamboozlement. I recommend it to those who like their fantasy fiction existential and just a little out of focus.
Raptor is a great example of this. This graphic novel merits multiple re-reads because of its resonant subtlety. There are two protagonists at the heart of it: Sokol, the travelling hawker-for-hire who will deal with supernatural threats for board and lodging, and Arthur, the bereaved fantasy writer who uses the pen to exorcise his intrinsic demons. One makes a violent discovery of a corrupting coin and the other has a profound experience at an occultist society ritual. Their narratives intertwine and what initially seems like one character forming another, suddenly goes both ways. Mirrors are a vital aspect of Raptor.
This is a book that requires the reader's full attention from the start. I struggled with the initial pages due to the prevalence of unfamiliar but beautiful words (e.g. 'imbricated', 'mycelial', 'oolitic', 'hummadruz' etc) and the surreal splashes of colour. Thankfully the plot became tangible soon after that, though still packed with meaning and mystery. By the halfway point, I was engrossed though not entirely comfortably.
Then again that's probably by design. McKean specialises in the stylistically crooked and blurry: every other panel looks as if it has been glimpsed in a dream. That is the allure of his art, why he is such a well-respected creator. Seeing McKean pioneer a graphic novel on his own is very pleasing to see though, like any great artwork, you need to return to it to update your appreciation. I suspect I will.
Raptor is a magical read with all the necessary bamboozlement. I recommend it to those who like their fantasy fiction existential and just a little out of focus.
Read
August 4, 2021To some extent, if you know Dave McKean's solo work, you have an idea what you're getting here; the same gorgeous collage effects and sinuous lines that made his Sandman covers so eye-catching and mood-setting, deployed in the service of a story which has a deep air of dream and fable about it, but maybe not an enormous amount of momentum. In 19th century Wales, a writer called Arthur (no, not Machen, though that was my first thought) mourns his wife, his 'little bird'. In another, misty, monster-haunted time or world, the falconer Sokol* tries his best to fight evil without getting enmeshed in the lives of others, despite that being a hard circle to square even in a story where McKean is doing his usual strange things to shapes. That the two have some connection is clear from the off; what it is exactly, I probably couldn't put into words even having finished, but it makes emotional sense, which will do me. The writing is sometimes so determined to display a deep connection with the land that it feels like Will Self swallowed a shelf of nature writing: "Oolitic limestone and old red elastic sandstone ripple in soft folds. The sea spray at high tide, and the smirr rain at most times, have turned the surface slick black. Red veins of loose silt pulse and flow; the land is breathing gently." That's not without beauty, but if you're going to start deploying showy vocab, you need to make sure you're being precise about it. I'm pretty sure 'rain' is superfluous there as it it would be in 'mizzle rain', and there are other little glitches like that scattered around, as when Arthur seems to be calling his book 'Apophonia', then offers the definition for apophenia. Though admittedly, he is drunk, and there is a whole strand here about books changing when you turn your back on them, an experience I'm sure we've all had even without being authors dabbling in the occult and mystically connected to someone from elsewhere. Not an entirely satisfying read, but very much an intriguing one.
*His name has accents, but if the publisher page isn't going to include them, then I'm not digging through the keyboard to ferret them out.
*His name has accents, but if the publisher page isn't going to include them, then I'm not digging through the keyboard to ferret them out.
October 13, 2021
I came to myself. Jedna přečtená věta. Půl verše z překladu. Tolik stačí, aby to podnítilo neskonalou imaginaci umělce. A McKean to zúročil v dílo, kde střídá tři roviny, každá s vlastním stylem kresby. Jeden každý je svébytný (a to i na echt svébytného McKeana), jeden každý hodný údivu i obdivu. Pastva pro oči i prostor pro vaši vlastní představivost, kde každý panel je mistrovství kresby, kompozice, stylu, tahů štětce, perspektivy... Všeho. Hned mi jeden zvláště silný výjev skončil jako uzamykací obrazovka tabletu.
V čem je tedy problém? No, on je McKean, bohužel, i scenárista. Otřesný. A tak ta výše uvedená věta je zadaptována v otřesném (a co hůře až směšném) rádoby mnohoznačném podobenství "artu pro art". Ze tří linií je jedna čistě pro ono ukázání jiného stylu kresby a ty dvě jsou mlácení dávno vymlácené loňské slámy. Uvědomuje si to čtenář i nakladatel, který na přebalu láká předně na "visual tour-de-force graphic novel". A dobře dělá.
A víte co je nejhorší? Že ta věta z úvodu je zadaptována doslova a do písmene. Žádný přesah, nic navíc. To JE celý děj včetně zvratu a katarze. Ne snad že by nutně podobná záležitost děj potřebovala. Bohatě by si to vystačilo s vizuálem a atmosférou. Jenže to McKean ne, on potřeboval světu i něco (dle něj něco s velkým en) sdělit. A nestačilo mu to skrze tahy štětcem. Vizuál za 5*, vše ostatní za přesný opak.
V čem je tedy problém? No, on je McKean, bohužel, i scenárista. Otřesný. A tak ta výše uvedená věta je zadaptována v otřesném (a co hůře až směšném) rádoby mnohoznačném podobenství "artu pro art". Ze tří linií je jedna čistě pro ono ukázání jiného stylu kresby a ty dvě jsou mlácení dávno vymlácené loňské slámy. Uvědomuje si to čtenář i nakladatel, který na přebalu láká předně na "visual tour-de-force graphic novel". A dobře dělá.
A víte co je nejhorší? Že ta věta z úvodu je zadaptována doslova a do písmene. Žádný přesah, nic navíc. To JE celý děj včetně zvratu a katarze. Ne snad že by nutně podobná záležitost děj potřebovala. Bohatě by si to vystačilo s vizuálem a atmosférou. Jenže to McKean ne, on potřeboval světu i něco (dle něj něco s velkým en) sdělit. A nestačilo mu to skrze tahy štětcem. Vizuál za 5*, vše ostatní za přesný opak.
August 4, 2021
To be alive at a time that Dave McKean is creating art is a blessing.
June 14, 2021
Though much of the art was really cool, I felt like I had no idea what was going on 99% of the time.
November 4, 2021
Stunning!
February 24, 2024
(Zero spoiler review)
Most two star reviews I read anger me, or frustrate me, yet this does neither. It is a work of considerable craft and care that just so happens to do absolutely nothing for me. A work so vague and so dense at once, as to likely mean a heck of a lot to a small number of people, yet most don't get it, or aren't entertained by it, and so we let it pass us by, moving on to other things. It was an impulse loan from the library I rather imagined wouldn't be for me, and here we are. I would have liked to have liked it more, although I didn't. 2/5
OmniBen.
Most two star reviews I read anger me, or frustrate me, yet this does neither. It is a work of considerable craft and care that just so happens to do absolutely nothing for me. A work so vague and so dense at once, as to likely mean a heck of a lot to a small number of people, yet most don't get it, or aren't entertained by it, and so we let it pass us by, moving on to other things. It was an impulse loan from the library I rather imagined wouldn't be for me, and here we are. I would have liked to have liked it more, although I didn't. 2/5
OmniBen.
January 18, 2022
Masterful art by Dave McKean, with an okay-ish plot. Feels like an amalgamation of most stories he has illustrated with Neil Gaiman and David Almond, with the most prominent ones being 'The Sandman' series and 'Joe Quinn's Poltergeist'. That's me nitpicking, however.
It is by no means a bad book. You can tell, however, that it is the illustrator's first attempt at writing his own story. It is a great attempt, and definitely worth reading.
(Full review soon)
3* for the art. 1* added for the story.
It is by no means a bad book. You can tell, however, that it is the illustrator's first attempt at writing his own story. It is a great attempt, and definitely worth reading.
(Full review soon)
3* for the art. 1* added for the story.
January 25, 2022
Menuda obra de arte visual x dios, ha sido como estar en una exposición de arte contemporáneo
February 2, 2022
I really enjoyed this. Dave McKean is brilliant.
September 30, 2022
The visual style is gorgeous, but the story is sadly split into what seems to be two different realities, only one of which is interesting.
December 8, 2023
A beautiful book to page through.
December 23, 2023
Between his illustrations for Roadside Picnic and now this graphic novel, I have consumed some stellar works by Dave McKean this year.
February 25, 2022
Absolutely beautiful—as all of Dave McKean’s work is. Do I think I followed the story perfectly to the T? No. Does that matter? Also no. It took me somewhere, even if I wasn’t sure where I was going, and I loved every second of it.
August 27, 2021
Disappointing. Whilst the artwork was pretty good the story really didn't amount to anything much
October 12, 2021
Imaginative but not satisfying
November 22, 2021
I'm not really sure what to make of this to be honest.
The art work was fantastic, unsurprisingly, but the story left me a little cold.
Maybe I didn't understand it? I will give it a re-read soon to see if I missed anything.
The art work was fantastic, unsurprisingly, but the story left me a little cold.
Maybe I didn't understand it? I will give it a re-read soon to see if I missed anything.
July 21, 2021
I ended up reading this twice in succession to better understand the plot and to look up all the words I am was unfamiliar with (smirr? hummadruz?). I believe this is McKean's first major solo comics work since Cages, and --- like that work --- there's a strong focus on creativity and artistry. We follow Arthur, a nineteenth century writer whose words, written in the midst of the grief of losing his wife, parallel or even narrate the actions of Sokol, a monster hunter in an alternate world. As genrified as that sounds, it isn't. McKean isn't so much interested in fantasy as he is in connection and relationship, and the ultimate tone is much more emotional and inward-looking than action packed.
Being a McKean work, the art is fantastic, changing from compelling pencil and ink work to much more abstract splashes of color and collage. But I found the plot meandering with a very interesting central point surrounded by bits that felt extraneous. The worst of those bits for me was a closing quote that took me right out of the work, but there's also a fascinating tarot-inspired scene that on the the second reading struck me as expertly written but doing nothing to further much of anything. And, like in Cages, female characters get short shrift, either appearing as muses or silent partners.
The whole work has whiffs of fascination, but I found the story underdeveloped. If you are interested in McKean as a writer and artist, I would recommend Cages over this.
Being a McKean work, the art is fantastic, changing from compelling pencil and ink work to much more abstract splashes of color and collage. But I found the plot meandering with a very interesting central point surrounded by bits that felt extraneous. The worst of those bits for me was a closing quote that took me right out of the work, but there's also a fascinating tarot-inspired scene that on the the second reading struck me as expertly written but doing nothing to further much of anything. And, like in Cages, female characters get short shrift, either appearing as muses or silent partners.
The whole work has whiffs of fascination, but I found the story underdeveloped. If you are interested in McKean as a writer and artist, I would recommend Cages over this.
December 25, 2021
I had no idea who DMK was when I read the GN, and upon learning of his accomplishments after, it all came together. The work was lazy- half thoughts, half-finished art, just half- assed. But he has a name.... & prizes, so it's called a "visual tour-de force". Commence eye-rolling.
Give me meat! Give me the whole thing. Stop calling a toad a Prince (I like toads- probably more than I would like a prince), but spare me all this pretentious tripe you are calling meat.
the cover was kinda-sorta pretty, i guess.
Give me meat! Give me the whole thing. Stop calling a toad a Prince (I like toads- probably more than I would like a prince), but spare me all this pretentious tripe you are calling meat.
the cover was kinda-sorta pretty, i guess.
November 1, 2022
Чому один з головних злодіїв виглядає як ��утін? Мене це непокоїло весь час, тільки коли він помер прийшло полегшення.
December 30, 2023
"Ave de Rapina" é uma hq roteirizada e desenhada por Dave McKean que ficou mundialmente conhecido por suas capas da série "Sandman". "Ave de Rapina" é sua obra mais diferente e seu enredo surreal suscita muitas interpretações. A trama gira em torno do autor inglês Arthur Marchen que entre suas obras escreveu "O grande Deus Pã", uma novela diferenciada e estranha na literatura fantástica do século XIX.
A hq começa de forma intrigante, ambientada em uma realidade fantástica, de modo que não sabemos se ela existe ou pode ter sido criada pela imaginação de Marchen. Também sabemos que no mundo real, ele perdeu sua mulher, por isso o escritor se apoia na escrita para poder suportar o sofrimento. Sendo assim, em "Ave de Rapina" existem duas realidades que existem paralelamente: uma, com contornos fantásticos em que vive Sokol, uma espécie de caçador de monstros e outra na qual Marchen tenta superar a morte da esposa e para isso recorre a uma seita ocultista - que poderá lhe revelar um outro mundo. Dessa forma, em algum ponto da história, essas duas realidades vão convergir - ou não?
"Aves de Rapina" também chama atenção pela arte bastante peculiar. Em algumas sequências, Mackean cria metáforas visuais que reforçam o aspecto surrealista da obra e também conferem a ela uma conotação metafórica. No fim, das contas, "Aves de Rapina" revela ser um grande delírio visual, uma verdadeira "viagem" proposta por McKean.
Seja pela ambientação fantástica, pela maneira como trata dos temas como a solidão e, principalmente, o luto, de maneira muito sensível e delicada, ou pela arte peculiar de Mckean que evoca pinturas de Picasso e outros grandes mestres da pintura moderna, "Ave de Rapina" é uma hq que vale a ser conhecida, embora, ela termina de uma maneira um pouco obscura que também demanda que o leitor tire suas próprias conclusões. Ou seja, "Ave de Rapina" não é para todos os gostos, mas aqueles que se interessam por literatura fantástica, arte em suas mais variadas manifestações, principalmente o Surrealismo e o Expressionismo, podem gostar dessa obra surreal e instigante.
Sobre a edição: A publicação da Darkside é de ótima qualidade, mas a folha é off-sett e não couchê. Mesmo assim, a impressão é excelente e valoriza os desenhos de McKean.
A hq começa de forma intrigante, ambientada em uma realidade fantástica, de modo que não sabemos se ela existe ou pode ter sido criada pela imaginação de Marchen. Também sabemos que no mundo real, ele perdeu sua mulher, por isso o escritor se apoia na escrita para poder suportar o sofrimento. Sendo assim, em "Ave de Rapina" existem duas realidades que existem paralelamente: uma, com contornos fantásticos em que vive Sokol, uma espécie de caçador de monstros e outra na qual Marchen tenta superar a morte da esposa e para isso recorre a uma seita ocultista - que poderá lhe revelar um outro mundo. Dessa forma, em algum ponto da história, essas duas realidades vão convergir - ou não?
"Aves de Rapina" também chama atenção pela arte bastante peculiar. Em algumas sequências, Mackean cria metáforas visuais que reforçam o aspecto surrealista da obra e também conferem a ela uma conotação metafórica. No fim, das contas, "Aves de Rapina" revela ser um grande delírio visual, uma verdadeira "viagem" proposta por McKean.
Seja pela ambientação fantástica, pela maneira como trata dos temas como a solidão e, principalmente, o luto, de maneira muito sensível e delicada, ou pela arte peculiar de Mckean que evoca pinturas de Picasso e outros grandes mestres da pintura moderna, "Ave de Rapina" é uma hq que vale a ser conhecida, embora, ela termina de uma maneira um pouco obscura que também demanda que o leitor tire suas próprias conclusões. Ou seja, "Ave de Rapina" não é para todos os gostos, mas aqueles que se interessam por literatura fantástica, arte em suas mais variadas manifestações, principalmente o Surrealismo e o Expressionismo, podem gostar dessa obra surreal e instigante.
Sobre a edição: A publicação da Darkside é de ótima qualidade, mas a folha é off-sett e não couchê. Mesmo assim, a impressão é excelente e valoriza os desenhos de McKean.
May 26, 2023
Raptor: A Sokol Graphic Novel, by Dave McKean
This book is really .. something else. It can only be read first-hand, a review is insufficient. Having just read some Edgar Allan Poe stories this carries a similar haunting introspection. I give this a rare 5/5 stars.
"The tide and skyline bleed, a grey smear."
"Some of us haunt the woods, looking for our old lives amongst the bract and foliole. And some of us are brought here. To leave little tank yous, tokens, benedictions. What better way to pass on one's thoughts and prayers than in the pages of a book. Others are handwritten in pencil, or in fever, or tears. Or delirium, or grief."
“Do your work, my little message in a bottle, tossed into the ether, published, read, rippling out into hearts and minds and souls.”
“you know, grief hits us in all manner of different ways – it can be confusing.”
"The mirror is the door, the book is the key."
Some definitions:
• nacreous = having a pearly appearance; e.g. sand.
• attenuated = having been reduced in force, effect, or value; thin or reduced in thickness.
• bract = a modified leaf or scale
• foliole = each of the leaflike structures that together make up a compound leaf.
• achromatic = relating to, using, or denoting lenses that transmit light without separating it into constituent colours.
• scrying = foretell the future using a crystal ball or other reflective object or surface.
• concatenated = link (things) together in a chain or series.
• sintered = produced by or subjected to sintering (the process of coalescing a powdered material into a solid or porous mass by means of heating without liquefaction). (e.g. "a mosaic made from sintered glass")
• feldspar = minerals that contain calcium, sodium, or potassium
• 'Hummadruz' is a name coined in the 19th century for a strange humming noise heard in the country, usually in still summer weather, and with no apparent source.
• tegument = a covering or vestment; integument.
This book is really .. something else. It can only be read first-hand, a review is insufficient. Having just read some Edgar Allan Poe stories this carries a similar haunting introspection. I give this a rare 5/5 stars.
"The tide and skyline bleed, a grey smear."
"Some of us haunt the woods, looking for our old lives amongst the bract and foliole. And some of us are brought here. To leave little tank yous, tokens, benedictions. What better way to pass on one's thoughts and prayers than in the pages of a book. Others are handwritten in pencil, or in fever, or tears. Or delirium, or grief."
“Do your work, my little message in a bottle, tossed into the ether, published, read, rippling out into hearts and minds and souls.”
“you know, grief hits us in all manner of different ways – it can be confusing.”
"The mirror is the door, the book is the key."
Some definitions:
• nacreous = having a pearly appearance; e.g. sand.
• attenuated = having been reduced in force, effect, or value; thin or reduced in thickness.
• bract = a modified leaf or scale
• foliole = each of the leaflike structures that together make up a compound leaf.
• achromatic = relating to, using, or denoting lenses that transmit light without separating it into constituent colours.
• scrying = foretell the future using a crystal ball or other reflective object or surface.
• concatenated = link (things) together in a chain or series.
• sintered = produced by or subjected to sintering (the process of coalescing a powdered material into a solid or porous mass by means of heating without liquefaction). (e.g. "a mosaic made from sintered glass")
• feldspar = minerals that contain calcium, sodium, or potassium
• 'Hummadruz' is a name coined in the 19th century for a strange humming noise heard in the country, usually in still summer weather, and with no apparent source.
• tegument = a covering or vestment; integument.
March 20, 2023
Honey buzzards glide their lazy spirals. Wheezing two-note calls and splayed vane tips of flattened wings drift on thermals. Their lonely observation quietens the ground cover- just an occasional throaty woodcock, at sea a keening loon. Down and down this sintered incline, precipitous and feldspar veined.Until I reach its base and the haphazardry of sandy badderlocks and discarded razor shells that define this liminal edgeland. A boundary, a place of transition. It could only happen here, this meeting.
Dave McKean has always been a firm favourite of mine, whether it be his collaborations with Neil Gaiman, such as The Wolves in the Walls, his work with the 14-18 Now Exhibition for which he produced Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash, or his solo work, such as this wonderful graphic novel.
How to describe Raptor? It is a juxtaposition between historical fiction and fantasy. A merging of dealing with grief and writing to escape. Dealing with the occult and the induced hallucinations of chanting Latin phrases in old Masonic halls.
It is beautiful yet haunting. It is everything you'd expect from McKean, showcasing his unique style and the illustrations could be described as art in their own right. A wonderful read that is more of an experience on the senses than a usual graphic novel. A top-notch 5 stars.
Dave McKean has always been a firm favourite of mine, whether it be his collaborations with Neil Gaiman, such as The Wolves in the Walls, his work with the 14-18 Now Exhibition for which he produced Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash, or his solo work, such as this wonderful graphic novel.
How to describe Raptor? It is a juxtaposition between historical fiction and fantasy. A merging of dealing with grief and writing to escape. Dealing with the occult and the induced hallucinations of chanting Latin phrases in old Masonic halls.
It is beautiful yet haunting. It is everything you'd expect from McKean, showcasing his unique style and the illustrations could be described as art in their own right. A wonderful read that is more of an experience on the senses than a usual graphic novel. A top-notch 5 stars.
August 18, 2021
Okay, you know how sometimes, you end up reading a book when you're just coming into the perfect mood for it, and it feels so good? That's what happened to me here. I happened to be in the mood for atmospheric weirdness that feels like you're reading someone's fever dreams and you kinda know what's going on but you kinda don't a bit too, but you're down with it because the art (the art! oh my soul!) is freakin' gorgeous and beautiful and is a whole bounty of moods spread out for your pleasure, and it becomes a delicious confection in your brain that make's your mind's palate happy. Funny how life is sometimes, amiright?
The two main characters, Sokol and Arthur, are from different worlds, but they share some of the same visions. I'm not going to say more, because trippy books like this are better if they just wash over you. Not everyone is going to dig this like I did, though I can't imagine any McKean fan not loving the art if not the story. I took off half a star for using the word "covfefe" and taking me out of the moment (had the story been contemporary, it might've been an appropriate use, but it didn't fit the vibe here), but I always round up. Read this when you want to be removed from reality for a bit.
The two main characters, Sokol and Arthur, are from different worlds, but they share some of the same visions. I'm not going to say more, because trippy books like this are better if they just wash over you. Not everyone is going to dig this like I did, though I can't imagine any McKean fan not loving the art if not the story. I took off half a star for using the word "covfefe" and taking me out of the moment (had the story been contemporary, it might've been an appropriate use, but it didn't fit the vibe here), but I always round up. Read this when you want to be removed from reality for a bit.
May 20, 2022
In Raptor, two lives, and two worlds intersect. One is a 19th century author, one is a hunter in a strange world, and both seem to have nothing in common, and yet their paths cross through the written word which helps them "cross" the threshold. The key word is the fictional title "apophonia", where seemingly random things share a connection, and certainly the two characters have a more intangible link, swirling in the cycle of their jobs and emotions seems to have given them a similar mindset. Multiple styles combine to blur these realities; disfigured pencil drawings, abstract dream paintings, and the general washed out pigments add to the introspective nature of the story. The writing also has that tone, and records only moments of contemplative dialogue or thought. There is little exposition or explanation, so much of the interpretation is left to the reader. For a thoughtful, short graphic novel, this is an interesting one to try.
October 15, 2021
Dave McKean the artist is a golden god.
Dave McKean the writer/storyteller is just some dude flexing a bit.
The story starts with you wondering whether or not you need a dictionary and you'll picture Dave's giant thesaurus sitting near him as he writes.
Then you quickly realize the Mensa-Tier vocab isn't just an obstacle course for shits; the main character is an author and he and his buddy like to circle jerk over lexicomology. That's cool. I dig words too, my man.
Then you find a tale of grief, duality, and finding oneself. Or part of oneself. Or you find oneself as part of a whole.
That's all fine but was it about anything? I don't know. Maybe there's some subtle play hidden in his poetry that makes a perfect circle. Maybe it's just a simple tale with simple themes.
That art though, it's like God would kill Dave McKean if he knew how good he was.
Dave McKean the writer/storyteller is just some dude flexing a bit.
The story starts with you wondering whether or not you need a dictionary and you'll picture Dave's giant thesaurus sitting near him as he writes.
Then you quickly realize the Mensa-Tier vocab isn't just an obstacle course for shits; the main character is an author and he and his buddy like to circle jerk over lexicomology. That's cool. I dig words too, my man.
Then you find a tale of grief, duality, and finding oneself. Or part of oneself. Or you find oneself as part of a whole.
That's all fine but was it about anything? I don't know. Maybe there's some subtle play hidden in his poetry that makes a perfect circle. Maybe it's just a simple tale with simple themes.
That art though, it's like God would kill Dave McKean if he knew how good he was.
February 3, 2023
Like everyone else seems to be saying, McKean's artwork—ever shifting, ever astounding—is an absolute highlight in an otherwise hard to read, harder to understand story.
He seems to have two different, and mostly unresolved storylines going on. The first is a 19th century author grieving for his lost wife and trying to find a way through the grief. Of the two storylines, this one seems to be the slightly better told one. Then there's the hunter, battling monsters for pay, however the story seems to be more about politics and leaders and the ones that want to lead, shouldn't, the ones that don't, perhaps should...though there's a single panel on the last page which, to me, also seems to support the "absolute power corrupts absolutely" theory.
Anyway, I read it, and was confused, but I marveled at the gorgeous art. So, five stars for one, one star for the other.
He seems to have two different, and mostly unresolved storylines going on. The first is a 19th century author grieving for his lost wife and trying to find a way through the grief. Of the two storylines, this one seems to be the slightly better told one. Then there's the hunter, battling monsters for pay, however the story seems to be more about politics and leaders and the ones that want to lead, shouldn't, the ones that don't, perhaps should...though there's a single panel on the last page which, to me, also seems to support the "absolute power corrupts absolutely" theory.
Anyway, I read it, and was confused, but I marveled at the gorgeous art. So, five stars for one, one star for the other.
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