Monday, December 03, 2007

Swann in Love: The Comic

You read it here first:--several paragraphs down into the article:

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071202/STYLE/312020011/-1/style

Andrew Smith writes in the Nashua Telegram (New Hampshire)

"It's unlikely that Marcel Proust could even imagine a comic book when he published "Remembrance of Things Past" from 1913-27, much less that his masterpiece would be adapted to one. Come to think of it, it's still pretty hard to imagine today.

But writer/artist Stephane Heuet is doing just that. His latest book in the multivolume adaptation, "Part Three: Swann In Love, Vol. I (of II)," has been released by NBM Publishing ($16.99), and it's just as delightful as its predecessors.

The writing is faithful, taking its time with the dialogue and story progression. And the art, which owes a lot to early 20th-century comic strips (think "Little Nemo" or "Gasoline Alley") is perfectly suited – being both modern (in being comics at all) and nostalgic (in evoking a bygone era).I have to admit part of what impresses me is that Heuet is trying this at all. I can think of few novels that suggest themselves for comics adaptation less. Yet he pulls it off, adding texture to Proust's immortal prose. Comics: They aren't just for Spandex anymore!

Contact Andrew A. Smith of the Memphis Commercial Appeal at capncomics@aol. com or http://www.captaincomics.us/. "

What will something think of next? Proust continues to inspire the widest swath of creativity from the Squid to the comics.

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