Monday, June 24, 2024

PHIL ELLIOTT MONTH: Comix Reading List #87: Bluebeard

86. BLUEBEARD by James Robinson/Phil Elliott (Slave Labor Graphics, OOP) Mycomicshop
I've read some of James Robinson's superhero comics over the past couple decades, if I recall right they were fine but nothing too exciting. This book is not STARMAN, or any of that ilk. BLUEBEARD is like a European album in pacing and subject matter. More of a psychosexual horror story told through the framework of a crime story.

My favorite part of the book are the early chapters where the crimes are recounted by witnesses to some sort of investigator who is tracking the killer.

While Phil Elliott's art is more than up for the task of interpreting Robinson's globetrotting serial grifter/murderer, I feel the book gets weaker at the end when Bluebeard becomes the focus of the final confrontation. 

Otherwise, this book is a great showcase for Elliott. Rarely does he get to work so much sex and violence into a story. The women are beautifully depicted, as is the scenery. The artistic highlight of the book are the double page spread establishing shots for each chapter (or victim, if you will). 









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