Reviews

Celeste by I. N. J. Culbard

sizrobe's review

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4.0

WTF in book form

tcc1's review

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2.5

strange, surreal and i think i understand but i wanted more and this didn’t do it for me

lookhome's review

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3.0

The line between heaven and hell is a thin one indeed.
Celeste explores certain popular tropes of fate or free will with some success.
The three narratives cohere into a final story that tries to provide a glimpse into... what?
Purgatory?
Heaven?
Hell?
Ones’ flawed desires?
Do these pink petals allow for self discovery? Are they a cosmic form of Ayahuasca ?
There is little closure in these stories.
It’s about as satisfying as the final episode of lost was...
The art is great and playful though as a previous reviewer pointed out, the pink undies constantly viable are indeed questionable and a little weird.
While there are worse things to read out there, I suggest you pick up anything by Warren Ellis, Neil Gaiman or joe hill and eat up that mythology instead

jessicajewel's review

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2.0

Beautiful art, but the story did nothing for me... And I love "contemporary Japanese fiction" (i.e. magical realism)...

chelseamartinez's review

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2.0

The art is very classic comic-book and there's a kind of cyclical structure to the entire story. Beyond that I'm not really sure what was going on (and one of the girl character's underwear more-than-peeking out of her cargo pants was so improbable so as to be distracting). The third story with non-English-speaking characters was interesting but I wasn't sure how the pieces fit together or whether it really got the attention the other two pieces commanded.

mischele_jamgochian's review

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4.0

Craving a little sci-fi with your we all die alone ennui? I.N.J Culbard's intense depiction of the human condition post-event (although we're not certain that said event actually happened, or what said event may have been) is just the thing. Culbard tells his tale in three parallel narratives, featuring three lonely people: a young girl living with albinism in London, a Japanese comic artist on the brink of taking his own life, and an uptight man stuck in LA gridlock who has just received a mysterious interrupted phone call concerning his wife. The story itself is interesting enough, but what sets Celeste apart is Culbard's phenomenal, one might even say stellar, artwork: a mix of masterful single, multiple, and otherwise mixed-up panels that provide depth for his characters in a way that words can never do. While some readers might find the open-ending frustrating, I was delighted by the ambiguity and appreciated the opportunity for imaginative interpretation throughout the work. Give it to fans of Jeff Lemire's Trillium. Grade 11 +

standardman's review

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5.0

Beautiful, hypnotic storytelling. The kind only comics can do.

sarahthesock's review

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3.0

The art was beautiful.

loudavis's review

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5.0

4.5

aliciamarie89's review

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4.0

This felt a lot like a Twilight Zone episode and I was really unsure if I would like it until I got to the end and found myself really enjoying it.