Graphic Novel Review: Shadowland

What drew me to Kim Deitch's Shadowland was the amazing pictures that had such fantastic details and were so skillfully drawn. Of course, I can also never resist a book on the circus/carnival. At first glance, the crowded and overwhelming number of pictures seemed perfect for the circus atmosphere that often time has multiple acts all running simultaneously. However, I felt that the plot and characters in this graphic novel left a lot to be desired.

Shadlowland includes ten different stories that are all set in either the circus or a carnival with the characters that are larger than life such as clowns, midgets, bearded ladies, voodoo witches the size of one's thumb and many more true "characters". The first story is about a sideshow high diving pig that has past his prime and must watch as he is replaced by a younger pig. Another story is told by the circus owner's wife, who is a midget, and the sketchy dealings that her husband (a clown who is always in makeup) makes in order to keep the circus afloat.

Deitch gives the reader an interesting cast of characters and tells each of their stories in vignettes. Still, this was not enough to keep my attention. Some of the story lines turned extremely sexually graphic which deterred me from reading them while others felt as if they had been done before. While the illustrations are what first won me over, I soon found myself overwhelmed by what was going on in the illustrations. The more time I spent hunched over the graphics, the more I forget what the plot was and had to go back to the beginning. Though each page truly embodied the atmosphere of a circus/carnival is also left the reader feeling as if there is not enough time in the world to absorb all of the pictures and their meanings. While this is not in my top list of graphic novels, I still think that it is worth the time to flip through and at least look at the illustrations.

Kim Deitch also wrote Boulevard of Broken Dreams which is on my list of the 24 graphic novels I wish to read this year. So stay turned in the next couple of months when I review one of her other graphic novels.

-DLP