.Stunning artwork - brings the reader/viewer into new planes.

'Fires and Murmur' is a reprint of two stories. 'Fires' is written and illustrated by Lorenzo Mattotti. Murmur is written by Jerry Kramsky and illustrated by Mattotti. Both stories are bizarre and illustrated vividly.

In 'Fires' a battleship called the Anselm II is dispatched to investigate a strange island that burns mysteriously. The island also has strange inhabitants which Lieutienant Absinthe finds out when he goes to the island. This changes him and causes him to go a bit crazy.

In 'Murmur' the title character is a man who has amnesia. He also has a strange disfiguring mark on his face. The story follows his quest to find out who he is.

In both cases the art is colorful and very artistic. Faces and characters distend grotesquely and the landscapes seem foreign and frightening. Reminiscent of Edvard Munch's The Scream, madness and amnesia are represented physically in the features of the characters. These are characters in unreliable landscapes experiencing psychic trauma.

I'm grateful for Dover making these reprints available. This title was unknown to me when it came out, probably because it was originally French. Then chance to read it now is great.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Dover Publications and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Absolutely gorgeous. Fires and Murmur is expressionist art in the form of a surreal graphic novel. The paired stories are tantalizing, if disturbing, dreams that stir the imagination and linger in memory. Reading was like gazing at a piece of art. I found myself pausing, repeatedly looking back and thinking about what I’ve seen. Fire and Murmur is beautiful, horrifying and awe inspiring. It delves into the area that lays beyond normal perception where genius and madness walk half in hand. Both are tales of voyages, of transitions in form and thought.

Fires and Murmur is definitely not your average graphic novel. It is a fantasy, but far more surreal than many readers are accustomed to. The art is incredible, and when paired with the stories makes an even larger impact. Personally I see Fires and Murmur more as a stirring work of art, than as a graphic novel. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but if you like the unusual, the beautiful and the surreal, you should definitely pick up a copy of Fires and Murmur.

5 / 5

I received a copy of Fires and Murmur from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

-Crittermom

I have mixed feelings about this book: on one side I like the art style, painting-like that also helps the story in showing the main character emotion towards fire / dark; on the other hand I ended up not liking the story so much.

A rare "Did not finish" for me. The art was awful and too surreal. There really wasn't much of a story either.

Received an advance copy from Dover and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

For once I didn't even bother finishing a graphic novel. The first story here is just awful – dreadful artwork that jumps from one 1930s art style to another, but the leaps in narration from one source to another, and the fact you don't seem to be reading the pages in order, make it hard work. The second piece seemed to have a bit more coherence about it, partly due perhaps to a collaborator, but the character design is weird, the fantasy world quite nonsensical, and I really wasn't getting anything out of it. Really a case of the emperor's new clothes.

This book had a few highlights for me. The art is unique and visually stunning. The writing has some beautiful lyric moments. And the overall story is quite different from most of what is being produced in America, making it a fascinating and engaging read.

However, there are also places where the writing feels clunky. The art and story are occasionally difficult to follow. And ultimately, the bizarre nature of the stories just wasn't to my taste.

So, I'm glad I read this, and it would certainly add an interesting and diverse element to any collection.

Reader's advisory:
This volume is better suited to adult audiences, partly due to violence, but mainly due to the more mature and abstract nature of the stories.

Two haunting, dreamlike fables of lost men on strange islands. The art is gorgeous, reminding me in a strange way of Oscar Zarate's work with Alan Moore and Alexei Sayle, a current that seems largely to have dropped out of Anglophone comics which resembles a picture book for adults more than the Atlantic mainstream. But there's more here of surrealism, symbolism, de Chirico...the sort of images which, even on a first reading, you know will recur at odd moments for years (the fires on the mountains at night, the unsettling stagfish). Beautiful stuff.

(Netgalley ARC)

Fantastic Art That Punches You in the Gut

This volume presents two important works by Mattotti, (from 1988 and 1993). The stark and intense lines and colors immediately demand your attention. The stories are feverish, opaque and disjointed and you feel the tales the way you "feel" the artwork.

"Murmurs" struck me as the stronger of the two. We follow a character who seems to be suspended between life and death, or possibly between madness and sanity, or between hope and despair. Hints and suggestions, opening with a sense of dread and yet somehow hopeful by the end, this is a fever dream of a story.

"Fires" feels like a 1930's expressionist variation on "Heart of Darkness". You can read it as a commentary on colonialization, or an examination of the industrial versus natural, or as an illustration of the inner turmoil of the artist. And, of course, all of those themes, at some level, may be the same. Since the "story" takes a back seat to the artwork, and since you could probably read this from back to front and still enjoy it, it's probably best to go with Mattotti and take from the book what you will.

However much you struggle with, or demand, clarity, the larger appeal here, it seems to me, is the alternatingly dreamy and fierce artwork. The book rewards multiple rereadings and re-examinations, and I found myself caught up in its intense and yet lyrical sweep. Fantastic indeed.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

A fun story with a uniquely compelling art style. Definitely something for graphic novel fans to check out.