Violent Cases

Given it's all hits and no misses, considering it's Gaiman/McKean team's first work, it's a masterstroke. I can't believe it's their first collaboration! Fractured arm, fractured memory. Innocent games, violent cases...

For any Neil Gaiman/Dave Mckean fan, this book is a great addition. It's their first collaboration (I think Dave was 24 when he made the art for this) and really shows where they came from. They talk about that in the introduction. It goes without saying, if you know these creators, that it stands on its own far better then most graphic novels, and pigeon holing it to just Gaiman/McKean fans is an insult. Every time I show a new person this book, they're blown away by seeing a comic with art this engaging. There's so much love the two of them poured into it and this was what put them both on the map. While they're skills have come a long way in the 20+ years since this came out, this book has more of a raw feel and stands as an inspiration for any fledgling artist or writer. While many creators have that 'Well, you need to start somewhere' movie or book Gaiman and McKean instead have this brilliant work that shows just how good they were from the very start.

This is the second book that I've read by Neil Gaiman. The artwork blows you away. This is what graphic novels should look and feel like. Violent Cases just captures the awe and fear of the unknown from a child's perspective. It seemed like I could smell the narrator's cigarette smoke and was transported back to the 80s (when this was written) to listen to his story. What is even better about the artwork is that it varies from page to page. Not that every spread is different but to capture the story best, each scene is different. From line drawings to paintings, this book is remarkable. Definite must read.

"I like to remember things my own way . . . as i remember them. not necessarily the way they happened." These lines from _Forgotten Highway_ evoke the feel of Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean's compelling and evocative _Violent Cases_.Enter the dimly lit, vague world of a man (who looks amazingly like Gaiman himself) remembering incidents from his childhood: a world of odd dentists, stupid birthday parties, evil magicians, and violent cases (violin cases). Our hero (for all of Gaiman's children are heroes) goes through his coming of age, in a frightening yet curious way, by peeking behind the curtain, while Gaiman's words and McKean's art take us along for the ride, peeking behind the curtain of memory.Gaiman readers will definitely see similarities in style between this story and _Mr. Punch_, which, in my mind, stands as a companion piece to this book. Memory and its tricks, traps, twists and turns serve as the vehicle for both, and it's the uncertain but unquestioning way that we go through the memories that make these books so brilliant.We all have memories. And if we look at them very closely, we begin to realize how scary some of those memories can be. As Gaiman shows us time and time again, the world is a threatening one to children: too big, too confusing, where children are constantly lied to and hushed even in moments of brilliance. Yet somehow we made it. Let Gaiman and McKean remind you how.

This is the comic you should hand to anyone who says "Comics are for kids!" Absolutely beautifully written, this evocative and dark tale about the nature of childhood memories (like the other volume, Mr. Punch) is simply fabulous. So many lines made me stop and think "Oh, now that's perfect." I am frequently stunned by just how very good Mr. Gaiman's writing is. Mr. McKean's artwork isn't something to sneeze at either. Go find this book! And while you're at it, do yourself a favour and find another spectacular Gaiman/McKean collaboration "Signal to Noise"