Category Archives: Lewis Trondheim

Review: MAGGY GARRISSON, published by SelfMadeHero

Surely, Maggy has had better days than this.

Maggy, the classic hard luck girl. She’s the one that gets away with nothing but keeps on trying. Maggy, the perfect anti-hero for this brilliant shaggy dog crime fiction! Maggy Garrisson is a new graphic novel published by SelfMadeHero, an imprint of Abrams Books. The script is my legendary cartoonist Lewis Trondheim. The art is my acclaimed cartoonist Stéphane Oiry. Let’s take a closer look.

Anyone reading this like Bridget Jones? Maggy is similar to Bridget as she’s outspoken and smarter than given credit for. She’s also quite persistent although there’s no arguing that she’s inclined to slow down at a London pub with a pint of Guinness. So, a bit of a walking contradiction, just what we like in a good offbeat main character. Maggy literally stumbles onto her new job, after having been unemployed for a couple of years. It’s not much of a job, a secretary to a two-bit detective, but this is Maggy we’re talking about.

For those well-read in comics, you will be inclined to compare Maggy with another Maggie found in Jaime Hernandez’s series, Love and Rockets. The artwork by Stéphane Oiry in this book is up to the task of evoking that high level of gritty comics realism. I must say, it is quite a treat to read this book as it collects three interconnected stories to create a rich tableau or grifters, drifters, and other sordid malcontents. I had a great time when I picked up the first story a while ago and reviewed it here. It would do an ole cartoonist like me some good, and you too in the bargain, if I might get a chance to talk to the creative team behind this book. Well, if not soon then soon enough. For now, this book will suffice.

No doubt, the material in this book would adapt very well for Netflix. Interesting point here: the book is so finely put together, from the precision details to the vivid colors, that Netflix can wait. Yes, it’s that good: a gripping tale married to a feast for the eyes in artwork. Trondheim has such a beautiful and distinctive cartoony style to his comics so it makes sense that he’d want the art for this crime fiction to go to Stéphane Oiry who excels in a hybrid style of cartoony and realistic. For one thing, his background in architecture definitely shows through in all his crisp and finely detailed backgrounds. And his development of characters is exquisite. Oiry knows how to get into the head of our high-strung Maggy. Oiry, a fine student in the masters of comics, channels Love and Rockets in a way that makes it his own. This is Oiry’s working-class London and welcome to it.

Like many a good detective story, there are enough MacGuffins here to dazzle any Hitchcock fan. This is a decidedly character-driven story but that’s not to say we’ve got an empty plot. In fact, the prevailing theme will strike a chord with anyone: don’t take what doesn’t belong to you. And if that doesn’t sink in, how about this: leave well enough alone that which might come back and kill you. You see, Maggy, the firebrand, is the sort who finds it hard not to play with fire. And you, I’m sure, will find it hard to put this book down.

This is a perfect read! Maggy will surely not be forgotten by any reader. I’ll give this book a perfect score: 10/10.

Maggy Garrisson is a 152-page full color hardcover, available as of June 11, 2019. For more details, visit Abrams Books right here.

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Filed under Comics, Crime Fiction, Lewis Trondheim, London, Paris, SelfMadeHero, Stéphane Oiry

Review: ‘Maggy Garrisson: Give Us a Smile, Maggy’ by Lewis Trondheim & Stéphane Oiry

MAGGY GARRISSON Volume I

Think of Maggy Garrisson as a more gritty Bridget Jones–dealing with crime noir misadventures. The first book in a graphic novel series sets up a rollicking good time with our main character, Maggy, stumbling into a career as a private detective. That’s pretty remarkable considering she wan’t doing anything in particular prior to her new more challenging situation. The first book in the series in entitled, “Maggy Garrisson: Give Us a Smile, Maggy,” originally published by Dupuis, in Belgium, and now available in an English translation as a digital comic at izneo right here.

On the job.

Written by Lewis Trondheim and drawn by Stéphane Oiry, this crime comedy series is sure to please just about any reader. Trondheim is a legendary cartoonist, both as an artist and writer. Stéphane Oiry is best known for his collaboration with the cartoonist, “Trap,” in bringing back the classic comic strip, “Les Feet Nickelés,” originally created in 1908 by Louis Forton.

A day in the life of Maggy Garrisson.

Maggy Garrisson proves to be a perfect anti-hero in her own way. She seems to only attract grifters and drifters into her life. But she is determined to get a better life or, at least, she really hopes for the best. She is not an ambitious sort. Trondheim and Oiry play up Maggy’s shortcomings for all they’re worth. As Maggy becomes more entangled in what could add up to some fairly sinister activities, the reader will be thoroughly amused. Drawn with a light touch and attention to detail, Maggy moves about a vivid and animated world.

No detail is too small.

This first book is 50 pages in full color and available as a digital comic at izneo.

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Filed under Comics, izneo, Lewis Trondheim