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Fires and Murmur
"Displays the artistry of European comics at their very best." ― Publishers Weekly.
Created by Eisner Award-winning artist Lorenzo Mattotti, Fires sweeps readers off into a hypnotic, haunting fantasy centered on a mysterious island where the hills are constantly ablaze. A series of vessels have inexplicably disappeared from the vicinity, so the battleship Anselm II is dispatched to investigate. When the expedition's leader, Lieutenant Absinthe, comes ashore, his encounter with the burning island's bizarre residents results in a form of psychic possession that leads to mayhem, madness, and murder. Mattotti's vivid illustrations, rendered with the depth and richness of paintings, propel the eye through a brooding, brilliantly colored atmosphere of mesmerizing imagery.
A second tale by Mattotti, co-written with Jerry Kramsky, offers another fantastic voyage. Murmur traces an amnesiac's quest across phantasmagoric landscapes to recover his identity — an enigmatic journey in which fear and confusion are resolved by arcane magic rituals.
This handsome hardcover edition marks the first publication of Fires and Murmur in a single volume. Both stories were originally published in French; this Dover edition features the 1988 English translation of Feux (Fires) and the 1993 English translation of Murmure (Murmur).
Suggested for mature readers.
Created by Eisner Award-winning artist Lorenzo Mattotti, Fires sweeps readers off into a hypnotic, haunting fantasy centered on a mysterious island where the hills are constantly ablaze. A series of vessels have inexplicably disappeared from the vicinity, so the battleship Anselm II is dispatched to investigate. When the expedition's leader, Lieutenant Absinthe, comes ashore, his encounter with the burning island's bizarre residents results in a form of psychic possession that leads to mayhem, madness, and murder. Mattotti's vivid illustrations, rendered with the depth and richness of paintings, propel the eye through a brooding, brilliantly colored atmosphere of mesmerizing imagery.
A second tale by Mattotti, co-written with Jerry Kramsky, offers another fantastic voyage. Murmur traces an amnesiac's quest across phantasmagoric landscapes to recover his identity — an enigmatic journey in which fear and confusion are resolved by arcane magic rituals.
This handsome hardcover edition marks the first publication of Fires and Murmur in a single volume. Both stories were originally published in French; this Dover edition features the 1988 English translation of Feux (Fires) and the 1993 English translation of Murmure (Murmur).
Suggested for mature readers.
112 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
About the author
Lorenzo Mattotti
98 books81 followersLORENZO MATTOTTI is an Italian comics and graphic artist living in Paris. A frequent contributor of covers for The New Yorker, he's recognized as one of the most outstanding international exponents of comics art. Mattotti won an Eisner Award for his graphic novel Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. He collaborated with Lou Reed in re-imaging Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 3, 2023
"Vatre i šapat" je grafička novela, ili još bolje slikarska novela, za nešto alternativniju publiku. Lorenco Matoti svojim grafičkim izrazom i načinom priče ipak nudi jedno umetničko delo publici koja bi želela da tako nešto vidi u stripu.
Ove dve priče bi se mogle nazvati i grafičke poeme sa puno alegorije u svom narativu koje čitaocu ostavljaju slobodu tumačenja iako su jasne naznake šta i gde Matoti želi da poentira i vrlo su čitljive. Priče se dešavaju između sna i jave, spuštajući se u duboku rem fazu sna gde snovi postaju opipljivi poput realnosti.
Krivo mi je što ne znam ništa o samom autoru jer verujem da je dosta ličnog utkanog u ove dve priče, pogotovo što se neki motivi ponavljaju iako su priče izašle u razmaku od 4-5 godina.
Vizuelno je Matoti vrlo jak i mislim da ne postoji veličina formata koja bi mogla da zadovoljni njegov vizuelni izražaj a da to nije galerijska izložba. Slike kojima Matoti priča su na momente ekspresivne pa do zaglušujućih, čime se odlično prati priča i stvara dinamika kroz roman.
Preporuka za svakog ko bi da pročita nešto što izlazi izvan klasičnog stripskog izražaja.
Ove dve priče bi se mogle nazvati i grafičke poeme sa puno alegorije u svom narativu koje čitaocu ostavljaju slobodu tumačenja iako su jasne naznake šta i gde Matoti želi da poentira i vrlo su čitljive. Priče se dešavaju između sna i jave, spuštajući se u duboku rem fazu sna gde snovi postaju opipljivi poput realnosti.
Krivo mi je što ne znam ništa o samom autoru jer verujem da je dosta ličnog utkanog u ove dve priče, pogotovo što se neki motivi ponavljaju iako su priče izašle u razmaku od 4-5 godina.
Vizuelno je Matoti vrlo jak i mislim da ne postoji veličina formata koja bi mogla da zadovoljni njegov vizuelni izražaj a da to nije galerijska izložba. Slike kojima Matoti priča su na momente ekspresivne pa do zaglušujućih, čime se odlično prati priča i stvara dinamika kroz roman.
Preporuka za svakog ko bi da pročita nešto što izlazi izvan klasičnog stripskog izražaja.
April 3, 2017
'Fires and Murmur' is a reprint of two stories. 'Fires' is written and illustrated by Lorenzo Mattotti. Murmur is written by Jerry Kramsky and illustrated by Mattotti. Both stories are bizarre and illustrated vividly.
In 'Fires' a battleship called the Anselm II is dispatched to investigate a strange island that burns mysteriously. The island also has strange inhabitants which Lieutienant Absinthe finds out when he goes to the island. This changes him and causes him to go a bit crazy.
In 'Murmur' the title character is a man who has amnesia. He also has a strange disfiguring mark on his face. The story follows his quest to find out who he is.
In both cases the art is colorful and very artistic. Faces and characters distend grotesquely and the landscapes seem foreign and frightening. Reminiscent of Edvard Munch's The Scream, madness and amnesia are represented physically in the features of the characters. These are characters in unreliable landscapes experiencing psychic trauma.
I'm grateful for Dover making these reprints available. This title was unknown to me when it came out, probably because it was originally French. Then chance to read it now is great.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Dover Publications and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
In 'Fires' a battleship called the Anselm II is dispatched to investigate a strange island that burns mysteriously. The island also has strange inhabitants which Lieutienant Absinthe finds out when he goes to the island. This changes him and causes him to go a bit crazy.
In 'Murmur' the title character is a man who has amnesia. He also has a strange disfiguring mark on his face. The story follows his quest to find out who he is.
In both cases the art is colorful and very artistic. Faces and characters distend grotesquely and the landscapes seem foreign and frightening. Reminiscent of Edvard Munch's The Scream, madness and amnesia are represented physically in the features of the characters. These are characters in unreliable landscapes experiencing psychic trauma.
I'm grateful for Dover making these reprints available. This title was unknown to me when it came out, probably because it was originally French. Then chance to read it now is great.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Dover Publications and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
March 20, 2017
A rare "Did not finish" for me. The art was awful and too surreal. There really wasn't much of a story either.
Received an advance copy from Dover and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Received an advance copy from Dover and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Read
February 1, 2017Two haunting, dreamlike fables of lost men on strange islands. The art is gorgeous, reminding me in a strange way of Oscar Zarate's work with Alan Moore and Alexei Sayle, a current that seems largely to have dropped out of Anglophone comics which resembles a picture book for adults more than the Atlantic mainstream. But there's more here of surrealism, symbolism, de Chirico...the sort of images which, even on a first reading, you know will recur at odd moments for years (the fires on the mountains at night, the unsettling stagfish). Beautiful stuff.
(Netgalley ARC)
(Netgalley ARC)
March 24, 2021
Fires is a pure expressionistic nightmare and one of the best horror comics I’ve ever read. Murmur is . . . not so spectacular. But luckily that doesn’t make Fires any less great. A super hard recommendation from me.
May 23, 2018
An inconsistent story.
January 1, 2018
As cores e a dinâmica das pinturas/ilustrações é fabulosa! No entanto senti que nem sempre o texto estava bem alinhado com o trabalho gráfico.
June 4, 2017
Trippy with dramatic art.
June 22, 2017
the art and colour were strange but pretty. they suited the oddness of the stories.
February 17, 2018
Adoro o primeiro conto , o segundo é demasiado intelectual !!!!
February 2, 2017
Fantastic Art That Punches You in the Gut
This volume presents two important works by Mattotti, (from 1988 and 1993). The stark and intense lines and colors immediately demand your attention. The stories are feverish, opaque and disjointed and you feel the tales the way you "feel" the artwork.
"Murmurs" struck me as the stronger of the two. We follow a character who seems to be suspended between life and death, or possibly between madness and sanity, or between hope and despair. Hints and suggestions, opening with a sense of dread and yet somehow hopeful by the end, this is a fever dream of a story.
"Fires" feels like a 1930's expressionist variation on "Heart of Darkness". You can read it as a commentary on colonialization, or an examination of the industrial versus natural, or as an illustration of the inner turmoil of the artist. And, of course, all of those themes, at some level, may be the same. Since the "story" takes a back seat to the artwork, and since you could probably read this from back to front and still enjoy it, it's probably best to go with Mattotti and take from the book what you will.
However much you struggle with, or demand, clarity, the larger appeal here, it seems to me, is the alternatingly dreamy and fierce artwork. The book rewards multiple rereadings and re-examinations, and I found myself caught up in its intense and yet lyrical sweep. Fantastic indeed.
(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)
This volume presents two important works by Mattotti, (from 1988 and 1993). The stark and intense lines and colors immediately demand your attention. The stories are feverish, opaque and disjointed and you feel the tales the way you "feel" the artwork.
"Murmurs" struck me as the stronger of the two. We follow a character who seems to be suspended between life and death, or possibly between madness and sanity, or between hope and despair. Hints and suggestions, opening with a sense of dread and yet somehow hopeful by the end, this is a fever dream of a story.
"Fires" feels like a 1930's expressionist variation on "Heart of Darkness". You can read it as a commentary on colonialization, or an examination of the industrial versus natural, or as an illustration of the inner turmoil of the artist. And, of course, all of those themes, at some level, may be the same. Since the "story" takes a back seat to the artwork, and since you could probably read this from back to front and still enjoy it, it's probably best to go with Mattotti and take from the book what you will.
However much you struggle with, or demand, clarity, the larger appeal here, it seems to me, is the alternatingly dreamy and fierce artwork. The book rewards multiple rereadings and re-examinations, and I found myself caught up in its intense and yet lyrical sweep. Fantastic indeed.
(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)
April 9, 2017
Fires and Murmur by Lorenzo Mattotti et. al. is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in late January.
'Fires' is a Gothic, industrial world of slate, blue and seaglass until its submarine sailors step onto a loamy, mossy island with Pointilist floral scrubs, and dream mutinously of vivid, Guernica flames and fire imps.
'Murmur' tells of a man mapping his way back to a familiar dimension of memory. The spectrum is broad between the Latin-dotted, court garden known (i.e. the brothers sparing in the cloud was my most favorite framable concept) and the dark, fireflight, crimson, midnight unknown.
'Fires' is a Gothic, industrial world of slate, blue and seaglass until its submarine sailors step onto a loamy, mossy island with Pointilist floral scrubs, and dream mutinously of vivid, Guernica flames and fire imps.
'Murmur' tells of a man mapping his way back to a familiar dimension of memory. The spectrum is broad between the Latin-dotted, court garden known (i.e. the brothers sparing in the cloud was my most favorite framable concept) and the dark, fireflight, crimson, midnight unknown.
October 28, 2016
Arte interessante, histórias etéras mas que não fazem o meu estilo. O tom excessivamente filosófico e metafórico conseguiu apenas desligar-me completamente da narrativa.
Want to read
April 19, 2021Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.
March 24, 2017
Absolutely gorgeous. Fires and Murmur is expressionist art in the form of a surreal graphic novel. The paired stories are tantalizing, if disturbing, dreams that stir the imagination and linger in memory. Reading was like gazing at a piece of art. I found myself pausing, repeatedly looking back and thinking about what I’ve seen. Fire and Murmur is beautiful, horrifying and awe inspiring. It delves into the area that lays beyond normal perception where genius and madness walk half in hand. Both are tales of voyages, of transitions in form and thought.
Fires and Murmur is definitely not your average graphic novel. It is a fantasy, but far more surreal than many readers are accustomed to. The art is incredible, and when paired with the stories makes an even larger impact. Personally I see Fires and Murmur more as a stirring work of art, than as a graphic novel. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but if you like the unusual, the beautiful and the surreal, you should definitely pick up a copy of Fires and Murmur.
5 / 5
I received a copy of Fires and Murmur from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
-Crittermom
Fires and Murmur is definitely not your average graphic novel. It is a fantasy, but far more surreal than many readers are accustomed to. The art is incredible, and when paired with the stories makes an even larger impact. Personally I see Fires and Murmur more as a stirring work of art, than as a graphic novel. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but if you like the unusual, the beautiful and the surreal, you should definitely pick up a copy of Fires and Murmur.
5 / 5
I received a copy of Fires and Murmur from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
-Crittermom
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews