A review by hellocookie
An Elegy for Amelia Johnson by Andrew Rostan, Dave Valeza
3.0
I’m on a big graphic novel kick right now and the other night I curled up with An Elegy for Amelia Johnson by Andrew Rostan. A story about how one persons journey to discovering how she affected the lives of others on her deathbed.
“In her 30 years on earth, Amelia Johnson has touched many lives with her compassion, intelligence, and spirit. Now, at the end of a year-long battle with cancer, she asks her two closest friends to take her final messages to the people who have touched her life the most. Henry Barrons is a cocky, Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker whose demeanor hides deep insecurities. Jillian Webb is an acclaimed magazine writer with an inability to make long-term commitments. They set out across the country to fulfill Amelia's dying wish...and end up learning more about her - and themselves - than they ever imagined. “
I honestly didn’t really know what to expect when I went into this story. I only knew the synopsis that I just shared with you and aside from that, went in blindly. I guess I’m more or less referring to the art. When I’m picking out graphic novels, most of my decisions are based on what the art is like. I know that seems silly, but I’m extremely visual and I find it distracting when the images in the book don’t really match the story. An Elegy For Amelia Johnson had a perfect mix of excellent writing and simple, straightforward and yet elegant art. I’m a big fan of the simple.
Graphic novels can be tricky because you don’t want the images to take away from the story and you also don’t want the story to take away too much from the images. They have to work together to tell the story… some of the pictures need to say what words can’t and the words need to fill in the blanks.
It takes us a little while to find out who Amelia is. We start off the story meeting Henry, a successful filmmaker and Jillian, a successful writer who has lost her love for it. They’re doing separate things and we get brief glimpses into their lives before Amelia is brought into it. Henry and Jillian are Amelia’s best friends from throughout the years. Together, they set out on a journey to fulfill Amelia’s last request – to bring Amelia’s last words to a few friends across the country and to film it all so Amelia can see it before she dies.
The story isn’t fully of sappy moments about a friend that is dying… it portrays a realistic scenario in which Jillian and Henry try to discover who their friend really was. All of our friends have separate lives when they’re not with us and we can never know our friends as well as we think. Jillian and Henry discover the good, the bad and everything in between that they could ever want to know about Amelia. When it boils down to is this: how much do we really know about our friends and when is enough, enough?
I enjoyed the story very much and I always feel like there’s a place in the world for an excellent graphic novel that is well-written and extremely enjoyable – even while dealing with a subject matter that isn’t necessarily considered enjoyable. An Elegy For Amelia Johnson was heartfelt, sincere and well-worth the read.
“In her 30 years on earth, Amelia Johnson has touched many lives with her compassion, intelligence, and spirit. Now, at the end of a year-long battle with cancer, she asks her two closest friends to take her final messages to the people who have touched her life the most. Henry Barrons is a cocky, Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker whose demeanor hides deep insecurities. Jillian Webb is an acclaimed magazine writer with an inability to make long-term commitments. They set out across the country to fulfill Amelia's dying wish...and end up learning more about her - and themselves - than they ever imagined. “
I honestly didn’t really know what to expect when I went into this story. I only knew the synopsis that I just shared with you and aside from that, went in blindly. I guess I’m more or less referring to the art. When I’m picking out graphic novels, most of my decisions are based on what the art is like. I know that seems silly, but I’m extremely visual and I find it distracting when the images in the book don’t really match the story. An Elegy For Amelia Johnson had a perfect mix of excellent writing and simple, straightforward and yet elegant art. I’m a big fan of the simple.
Graphic novels can be tricky because you don’t want the images to take away from the story and you also don’t want the story to take away too much from the images. They have to work together to tell the story… some of the pictures need to say what words can’t and the words need to fill in the blanks.
It takes us a little while to find out who Amelia is. We start off the story meeting Henry, a successful filmmaker and Jillian, a successful writer who has lost her love for it. They’re doing separate things and we get brief glimpses into their lives before Amelia is brought into it. Henry and Jillian are Amelia’s best friends from throughout the years. Together, they set out on a journey to fulfill Amelia’s last request – to bring Amelia’s last words to a few friends across the country and to film it all so Amelia can see it before she dies.
The story isn’t fully of sappy moments about a friend that is dying… it portrays a realistic scenario in which Jillian and Henry try to discover who their friend really was. All of our friends have separate lives when they’re not with us and we can never know our friends as well as we think. Jillian and Henry discover the good, the bad and everything in between that they could ever want to know about Amelia. When it boils down to is this: how much do we really know about our friends and when is enough, enough?
I enjoyed the story very much and I always feel like there’s a place in the world for an excellent graphic novel that is well-written and extremely enjoyable – even while dealing with a subject matter that isn’t necessarily considered enjoyable. An Elegy For Amelia Johnson was heartfelt, sincere and well-worth the read.