Comics / graphic novels about artists have been a recent favourite genre to read because it gives me an insight into what into their lives look like.

When I started this book, I had no idea what Matisse's life was like. Although this graphic novel talks only about Matisse's time in Tangier - over the period of one or two years - and is more of a slice of life. The characters in the book are Matisse, his wife and Moroccan locals. Since the book is about a white person (by a white person) in the early 20th century, the way Matisse views the locals and the culture is from a white man's perspective and is obviously problematic to read.

The book is mainly for the art and how beautifully they have imitated Matisse's style to narrate his story. The story is not extraordinary, apart from the way the Arabian Nights kind of storytelling hby Zorah, Matisse's model, has been incorporated within the book, and I would recommend reading it mainly for the artwork and colour work.

Thanks to Europe Comics and NetGalley for the ARC of this book,

An interesting story that had me constantly turning the pages. While the ending left me wanting more, the overall 1001 nights idea was very interesting and the art style stunning.

The illustrations for this book is really nice and you can re read it just to look at the variations of style. The story itself is bittersweet. I was hoping for a happy ending but that wouldn't coincide with the true biography. Definitely recommend it!


Thank you #NetGalley and # EuropeComics for giving me the opportunity to read this.

The story is very touching and the art style, while not like other graphic novels that I was used to, was used to effectively convey the emotions in the story.

Thank you Europe Comics and NetGalley for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this one quite a bit. The art is beautiful and I found the story to be engaging. I've seen some criticisms of the book's colonial bias and I think it's a fair criticism, but I'm unsure if I'm supposed to read that as the book's bias or the character's? I tend to lean toward the later. It is a book set during France's colonial rule over Morocco and certainly many French citizens would have acted this way. This is a fun, fast read with beautiful art. I'd recommend it.

Miigweetch to Netgalley and Europe Comics for the DRC.

I did not know much about Matisse before reading this book, which is part of the reason I requested it. I enjoyed the art style of this graphic novel very much and found the muted color palette to be quite effective. However, I found the pacing of the story to be a bit awkward; some sections really dragged where in other parts I would have preferred to linger, but was rushed.

Overall this was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it to art history aficionados, or others studying French colonialism, which forms the backdrop against which the story is told (however, the author doesn’t really delve into this idea too deeply, seemingly allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions.)

Tangier in the Rain is almost like a slice of life comic - what happens is not really as important as how it's told and how it makes the reader feel. As events are in many ways mundane - the artist arrives, the artist paints while suffering minor creative crisis - the art in this comic must take the center stage. Abdel de Bruxelles's art is simple but his use of color is superb - he creates whole moods and atmospheres with it. Tangier in the rain is blue, clearly influenced by and picking up colors from Matisse's most famous Tangier painting "Window at Tangier". Tangier in the sun is shades of oranges and terracotta and white.

When it comes to the story itself and the characters I can't help but to view them through the French colonialist lens - as servants, objects of the painter's desire or even mere animals. Matisse paints and consumes what Tangier has to offer, he comes because of his personal needs and leaves when they are being met but doesn't make an effort to understand - comic doesn't do much to criticise but leaves it mostly to the reader to "read between the lines".

All in all the experience is mild - best parts are definitely told through the art, the reader feels being pulled into Tangier. The story leaves one wanting, though.

This is a prettily illustrated retelling of Matisse’s trip to Morocco. The weather and location transitions are especially amazing. Overall, the pacing of the stories were really out of step with each other. For example, the set-up takes a long time and the revelations about one of his models is rushed. I found bits of the representation of Morocco a bit uncomfortable but generally the colonial angle is made clear.

A well-told mix of art history, historical fiction and romantic melodrama, integrating the story of Matisse with Tangier's culture and landscape in clever ways.

This is a beautifully illustrated and engaging story of Henri Matisse's time in Morocco - his adventures with a female model inside his conservative hotel, the fairy tale she narrated to him... and how it was all interwoven with her life.

I love the use of color throughout to highlight Matisse's experiences (from joy to despair) and the insights that shaped his art.

The art was the star of this graphic novel. I truly appreciate when an artist uses colour to show how a subject changes over the course of the story, as Matisse did during his stay in Tangier. I was disappointed in the story, though. The latter half in particular could have benefited from going a bit more in-depth. It felt as if the last chapter was rushed through. An interesting and beautiful attempt at fleshing out the story, but unfortunately the writing fell a little flat.

I'm not a fan of comics, but this one was a nice read. I liked the colour coded pictures based on the timeline and setting in this book (different colour when they are in room, or when fable takes place...). Pictures and texts were nice and easy to follow. I liked the storyline and the lenght of this storybook.

I enjoyed reading this, the art was beautiful but it was rather on the short side so I was unable to fully get into the story / or like the characters and see them develop but I still loved it so 3.5/5

The art style was amazing, but the storytelling and plot could have used some work. I wish I had read this in French, but I got an e-ARC through Netgalley, so I read the English translation.
As I said, the artwork was amazing, the colours were my favourite thing about this book, but plotwise 1. At one point, it tried to mimick Arabian Nights and that bored me; 2. The first part was extremely long, even a bit too much, while the last part felt a bit abrupt. I wish there were a few more pages at the end or that we got rid of some bits of Zorah narrating the tale.
I have no idea if this book is historically accurate and, to be honest, I don't really care, because with a bit more editing I think this would have been a really cute story.
I would still recommend it for the art, though!

Thanks a lot to Europe Comics for providing an e-ARC of the title.

I would like to start my review by saying I know nothing about Henry Matisse prior to reading this graphic novel. Zero. Nada. So getting a glimpse of him even in this imaginated depiction of his two trips to Tangier felt quite educational of sorts. The drawings are simple, but I love the illustrator's choice in focusing certain colours on certain sets of panels/pages. The story itself did not leave an impact on me, unfortunately. It's one of those stories where you'll enjoy it while you're reading, but immediately forget about once you're done with it.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a digital copy.

Tangier in the Rain is a reimagining of what could have taken place during Henri Matisse's stay in a rainy Tangier, where he painted several masterpieces including a portrait of a woman named Zorah.

I love how Abdel de Bruxelles incorporates Matisse's trademark art style in the colors and line work of this graphic novel. It feels like living and breathing in one of Matisse's own works, and it adds an air of joy and mystery to the experience. I love how the colors are used to reflect Matisse's moods: blues for his disappointment and melancholy, reds for the heights of his painting flow, and oranges for his joy at the beauty of Tangiers.

I also love that Zorah here is treated as someone more than a sitter for his paintings: she has dreams, ideas, stories, power and agency beyond the confining limits of the canvas and the workplace. Her parts are such a delight to read, and I am happy to keep listening to her whenever she is on the page.

My only gripe is that because I've read this ARC on a screen, the font used is hard to read. I keep zooming in to read the text, which sometimes ruins my experience of the page and frame composition. If this were in print, however, I think the font would render nicely.

An interesting insight into a moment in Matisse's life in Tangier. Despite how colorful his work was, the graphic novel keeps to a relatively monochromatic theme to reflect the characters moods. It was a good story and cool speculation.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

It was okay, the words were too small for me to really enjoy the book. This was my second graphic novel in a while so it took some getting used to from just words on a page.

In 1912, Henri Matisse is an established artist but has lost his mojo; in order to freshen his vision he goes on a trip to Morocco, chasing a different kind of light. Unfortunately for him he arrives in a rainy season and is trapped in his room for the first couple of weeks, however he perseveres and paints what he can see: flowers in his room, the view from his window, and then as the weather improves moves out in the world to find true inspiration in the people and places of beautiful Tangier, including a young woman called Zorah.
This time in Morocco changed the course of Matisse’s art and led to a very famous set of paintings but little is known in detail of the people that he met and painted. This charming graphic novel aims to fill that gap with an evocative what-might-have-been fantasy.
The illustration style feels very French, using a restricted slightly muted palette to great effect. The artwork is infused with references to Matisse’s paintings but does not try to duplicate them, instead employing a line art style reminiscent of early 20th century strip cartoons which seems entirely appropriate
Apart from Matisse himself, the main characters we meet are hotel manager Hassan, his nephew Amido who becomes Matisse’s gopher, and sex worker Zorah who becomes his model and finding the work to her liking tries to spin the job out by telling stories like a 20th century Scheherazade.
The inevitable ending when it comes is sharp and bittersweet.
The story is told with gentle humour as it explores the nature of artistic inspiration, the effect on an artist of the exploration of a whole new world of light, people, places and objects but equally the effect the visit of the (comparatively) rich and free artist can have on the lives of the people he meets. And of course, equally the feeling when the window on to other lives which has been opened, is then abruptly closed.
I was completely swept up in this beautiful evocative story. You would not need to know anything about Matisse or Morocco to enjoy this book but might find it sparks an interest in one or both.

I received an eARC copy from Europe Comics via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This magnificent biographical graphic novel based on the out-of-his-comfort-zone part of Matisse's life is just the book we need to learn more about Matisse's work and the city of Tangier, its charm and how it affected the painter's life and work. Tangier is a mysterious and magical place, home to some of the most beautiful architecture and scenery, a mythical and cosmopolitan city; no surprise Matisse went twice to Tangier in search of inspiration.

And I do not mean he had to go twice because it was raining the first time; I am sure he just fell in love with city streets, views, flavours, and wafts of luxurious Oriental scents and was compelled to return. What's even more, Zorah, his model, and her life were so intriguing that I had no option but to compare her and her storytelling (in my mind, of course!) to that of the famous Scheherazade and One Thousand and One Nights.

While staying in Morocco and exploring the nooks and crannies of Tangier had a tremendous impact on his work (Matisse produced more than 20 oil paintings and sketches in bold shapes and expressive colours: Vue Sur la Baie de Tangier - View of the Bay of Tangier, La Porte de la Casbah - Entrance to the Kasbah, and La Fenêtre à Tanger - Window at Tangier, to name a few), I cannot get Zorah out of my mind as the centrepiece of this graphic novel. I wish there was more to her story and how Matisse and Zorah developed and changed, both as characters in this graphic novel and in real life. But that is up to us, readers, to find out; I think this short travelogue delivered more than meets the eye and did an excellent job at it.