On the Ropes: A Novel
-
- 8,99 €
-
- 8,99 €
Publisher Description
In this long-awaited sequel to the legendary graphic novel Kings in Disguise, a young circus hand gets involved in dangerous underground activity.
Kings in Disguise was praised by the likes of Art Spiegelman, Neil Gaiman, and Alan Moore. It won two Eisner Awards and has been hailed as one of the ten best graphic novels of all time (Guardian). This highly anticipated sequel tells the story of a young man’s coming of age in a world where the capacity to dream may be a fatal flaw. Set in 1937, On the Ropes continues the story of Fred Bloch, now apprenticed to escape artist Gordon Corey, a star attraction in a traveling WPA circus. Though damaged by the Depression and haunted by past mistakes, each man holds the key to the other’s salvation—but each also harbors a secret that could lead to their mutual destruction. Enacted against a backdrop of violent labor unrest and a nation’s faltering recovery, On the Ropes is a breathtaking visual achievement that delivers a powerful, timeless story.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The subtitle on the cover of this sequel to the Eisner-winning Kings in Disguise reads, A Novel. The telling absence of the word graphic, paired with the quality of the storytelling herein, indicate that Vance and Burr s ambition is to craft a Depression-era story as layered and encompassing as the classics of Steinbeck or James M. Cain and they are successful. In 1930s, teenager Fred Bloch works as an assistant to circus escape artist Gordon Corey. Bloch s checkered past and Corey s unstable reputation make them mismatched partners who are nevertheless mutually dependent. Blooming romance and labor unrest provide the external dramas against which Bloch struggles to understand himself and his era as he moves toward adulthood. Meticulous research is reflected on every page: the economics and social dynamics of the era, the challenges faced by organized labor, the psychology of alcoholism, and the politics of the Works Progress Administration, among other topics, are clearly outlined by both writer Vance and artist Burr. The black-and-white art stylistically reflects the clean outlines and emphasis on faces found in classic EC comics. This informative, melodramatic story paints a vivid picture of a tumultuous era that fostered a political divisiveness that will be all too familiar to contemporary readers.
