2.5 stars

I’m still not sure what the point of this story was. It follows three creatives as they move from obscurity to varying levels of success as artists. There isn’t much character growth though; they start out as kinda selfish jerks, & end that way too.

[What I liked:]

•I’m not a huge fan of the art style, but I did appreciate the details put into the backgrounds & characterizations.

•The translators did an excellent job with notes where needed to explain context. The dialogue reads smoothly, too.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•This was a really story without much action or suspense, which would be fine if it was a character driven story, but unfortunately there is little to no character growth.

•I’m not sure what the point of this story is…to show how artists are insecure assholes who justify their assholery because they are “artists”? That’s all I got out of it.

CW: substance abuse, infidelity, sexism

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

Wow, this was a page-turner.

I could not stop myself from reading about these self-centered, dramatic, egotistical, kinda delusional, and basic asshats. Oh, they are talented mind you BUT they are a TAD too full of themselves. No surprise, when any of them make it big, there is a big bout of jealousy, fakeness, creepiness, and just being major d*cks.

I know, you may think I didn't enjoy it BUT I COULD NOT STOP READING. Yeong-shin did such a great job with the character-building that you cannot helped but get sucked into wanting to know what happens to each douche. Initially I thought it was 400+ pages but then, there was another pdf to download and praise sweet baby cheesus, another 200+ pages that thus wrapped it all in a 'shudder-filled' package.

I recommend you to read this. It's even better than watching a Korean drama as there's not too much of that romance crap and you really zone in on these three key characters and all the other people they meet.

I'm adding Yeong-shin to my graphic novel peeps to watch out for.

Three struggling Korean artists - a writer, a painter and a musician - in their 40s eventually make it big on the art scene but success changes them.

Doesn’t sound like a terribly substantive story, does it? And yet this book is well over 600 pages long! Not that it’s difficult to read - Yeong-shin Ma’s comic is accessible and the pages flow well - but it didn’t need to be anywhere near this long, particularly as it seems to tell the same story three times over, and it wasn’t that impressive a story the first time.

The story and its message is unoriginal - fame and fortune changes people, especially if those people are complete cretins to begin with, which two of the three main characters are. The musician and painter both take advantage of their fame and power by having multiple affairs, sexually harassing subordinates, and generally behaving like pigs.

The writer character - who’s drawn with a massive head deformity that I couldn’t tell was a stylistic choice or was meant to be an actual deformity - is just conceited and dull, rather than an out-and-out prick. Basically none of the main characters are much fun to spend time with.

The first act is kinda interesting in its depiction of the realities of being a professional artist and I was curious to see how their stories developed, but it gets very repetitive after a while with very little happening. Once they all make it, their horrible personalities are amplified until the book ends.

Maybe it’s a critique of the Korean art scene, maybe it’s not? Either way, it’s not impactful. Artist simply isn’t very entertaining, memorable or has any kind of deep or thoughtful insight. A bloated bore of a comic.

"Artist" is a graphic novel about three middle age guys who seek recognition as artists. It is meant to be satirical and funny but unfortunately I ended up not enjoying this at all. I was very interested in the subject and I believe the premisse had potential but I couldn't get pass how boring and extremely unlikeable everyone and everything here was.

I understand the characters are caricatures and are meant to be exagerated, however instead of a real exploration and discussion of the interesting themes surrounding art and the industry that lurked around the pages here and there, I ended up with something that just left me very unconfortable and didn't even felt like it reached any conclusion in the end.

The art style was also a no for me. Unfortunately I would not recommend this.

Gorgeous graphic novel, thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me access it in exchange for my feedback.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Drawn & Quarterly for granting my wish to review this book. Unfortunately, I have to give up on reading on page 150. As far as I read it was one star for me.

This graphic novel is about three middle-aged men artists who struggle to break through in their different industries. The story is supposed to be satirical but the humor is crude and the bitterness of these men makes me bored to death. It was unbearable. This is slice of resentment instead of slice of life.

I am aware of the fact that there is an industry and society that values youth and superficial values in Korea. However, the author's artistic and satirical approach to these issues wasn't well-done. Additionally, the author makes an effort to include some information on Korean history or copyright law, but it doesn't fit with the story.

Loved Moms and was really excited to read this. I enjoyed this but feel quite the same level of quality. The directions the story goes in the second half lost me a bit. Overall an entertaining enough read with well fleshed out characters.

Artist is another example of why I enjoy work from Drawn & Quarterly. Insightful in its storytelling, thoughtful in its delivery, and enjoyable in its multimodal design. I would recommend this book highly for comics readers.

Artist is a graphic novel about three forty-something men living in Korea who have dedicated their lives to their artist pursuits; Deuk-nyeong is a novelist, Kyeongsu is a painter, and Jongseop is a musician and none of them should be friends with each other. The three of them are bonded by convenience, drinking too much, and treating each other terribly in their attempts to get laid (unsuccessfully).

All three of these men are assholes and I did not like a single one of them, but the good thing was that I knew I wasn’t supposed to. All three of these men are dealing with the thought of being washed up artists before their careers have even started. We spend the first part of the book watching them all climb their way too the top, sometimes at each others’ expense; then we get to see what their lives become when the check the box that says “achieve dreams,” and what that actually means now that it’s not a hypothetical. Finally, we see what life is like for them once power and prestige and notoriety are thrown into the mix.

Yeong-Shin Ma has captured, quite nicely, what all these phases of an artistic career might look like and the varied outcomes and consequences of our decisions once we forget to consider the aftermath. As I read, I quickly gave up on the idea of wanting better for each of these men and hoping that they were successful and began reading with the intentions of making sure that they each got what was coming to them because all of the gods know that they deserved it.

Artist is long, but it’s a fast read and we spend a lot of time with these characters and really see how they change and grow (in both positive and negative ways) over time. This is a very character driven story and that combined with the fast pace and low stakes make for a very chill, entertaining read. This book does contain some more mature content and triggers for sexual harassment and death; I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys graphic novels and plot-light stories.

Thanks to NetGalley and Drawn & Quarterly for sending me a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. Artist is currently available for preorder and will be available for purchase at major book retailers on October 4th, 2022.

Artist is a story about complicated friendships, careers and ultimately, the people who run to your side when things really, really, really go left or leave your side when things go well. At first, a beautiful description of bromance, we start to see the issues bubbling underneath the surface as the story unfolds. Shin Deuk Nyeong (44 Years Old writer); Kwak Kyeongsu ( 46; Painter); and Chun Jongseop (42, musician)'s personalities are wildly different which is particularly why reading this story was interesting. Their paths were very different and oftentimes, we see a lot of cautionary tales in each of them. There is blatant disregard for others, women and lots of those are deliberate. Yeong-Shin Ma hides nothing in showing the missteps and failures.The comic was written so well that these occurrences flowed into the consciousness before I could even realise there was a lesson. Yeong-Shin Ma is masterful in how he crafts the story to show both the flaws in the character but also the flaws in systems as a whole. The translations are also immaculate in the ways it conveys their relationship masterfully. I appreciated this realistic view on artistry. The sacrifices made along the way and the possibility of losing ones moral as soon as they get a taste of success. All in all, I did find this a compelling read. My only objection is I don't seem to find the women characters compelling and the point of Seya's character was lost on me. Regardless, I think that would an excellent piece by another reader. I would love a deeper take on the gender dynamics here especially from someone more familiar with the culture.

Reading the synopsis via Netgalley, I was interested in the art style, and the message of this book. The story of a friendship group as they begin to mature out of it, Artist makes for an interesting view into the culture, art and adulthood.

If you are looking for a plot, this is not the book for you, this is very much a character driven story and how they interact with one another and when they don’t. These characters begin to develop and grow in different directions, morally grey and certainly making decisions for themselves (and I would definitely check content warnings for this book before you read it) the story arc gives us insight in my opinion of how when you have no one to check on you, you begin to lose who you are as a person. These characters begin to lose themselves to what they create or do.

The art style that comes with this story is actually quite unique, I think, I really appreciated the colours and how it’s used to express emotions and their thoughts throughout the comic and the cultural notes and small translations are really useful as well to explain parts of the story - I think the use of colour emphasises just how lonely they come to be. I feel like the women are characterised by the artwork in not a great way I’ll be honest, and the female characters are never really given much dimension and are treated incredibly badly by the writing in this book, however I guess this comic is about the privilege of success and having accountability and how they treat women in their lives is a reflection of that.

it’s a great and colourful piece of art, with characters that live in the grey.

(Oh, and if you have read this BTS are artists 😎)

(CW: SA, Abuse, mental illness).

Not my cup of tea as I wasn’t really understanding what was going on with them story wise like a lot was happening throughout. But glad to have come across this mammoth.

Miigweetch NetGalley and Drawn and Quarterly for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I was interested in this book because of the author; I’d heard about Yeong-shin Ma’s other works, specifically Moms but haven’t been able to read it yet. I was so excited when I saw my wish had been granted for Artists. This is my first manhwa (Korean comic) and I really liked the exposure to Korean culture. I thought the translation team did a nice job giving context to visual jokes and gags that people living outside of Korea would not understand.

The story revolves around three artist friends in their forties. Each man works in a different medium: painting, music, and literature. Two of the characters are downright despicable, with the only one I really cared about being Shin. There are a few incidents of sexual violence and harassment towards women, and regular talks of extortion.

I didn’t like the art style and was really distracted by the way some of the characters were drawn, specifically Shin Deuk-nyeong: his head looked extremely deformed but it was never addressed or talked about, and no other characters were drawn that way - whatever was going on, it just did not work for me. Kwak Kyeongsu was downright gross and completely unsympathetic; he is the bringer of his own misfortune. Chun Jongseop might have been alright, however, he is revealed to be a misogynistic cad and not really all that likable. I also thought the way women were depicted in this comic was rather gross; Ha Seya is particularly reprehensible.

The story meanders and drags. It was a chore for me to get through this comic and I was dismayed when I read the final page of the galley to discover a link to another PDF with an additional 200 pages. I wasn’t going to bother but I hoped there was going to be a redemption (spoiler: there was not). Overall I did not enjoy this comic and I will not be revisiting it again in the future.

Thanks a lot Netgalley and publisher for granting my wish to read this graphic novel about three single amigos who are in their 40’s, looking for love and create silly shenanigans among them. Ones a painter lecturer, ones a manhwa Webtoon artist and one is a musician. This seems more slice of life with a few chuckles here and there. Although I will admit, I wasn’t really understanding what was going on with them story wise like a lot was happening throughout the whole story that your head would spin at times lol! I feel in the future that this would be good as a Kdrama.

Btw doesn’t anyone think the Webtoon artist looks like a drunk-looking squiggle like wtf was the artist thinking?! XD

Anyways yeah this graphic novel had its unique moments but at the same time, I would’ve liked if it was toned down without the craziness and the fact we get another link to fully finish the story, it kinda was a turnoff.