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The Realist #1
The Realist
Acclaimed Israeli cartoonist Asaf Hanuka‘s weekly strips collected into one volume and translated into English for the first time.
In 2010, Israeli newspaper The Calcalist asked Hanuka, already well known in Israel as a commercial illustrator and as a contributor to the animated film Waltz With Bashir, for a weekly comic strip. The first of the autobiographical strips chronicled Hanuka discovering that he and his wife and their young son need to find a new place to live, immediately and in a crazy Tel Aviv real estate market, because the apartment they’ve been renting has been sold. As an artist, husband, father or a regular Israeli citizen, Asaf Hanuka chronicles everyday life in his country, with humor that is offbeat and sometimes surreal. Shot for shot, Hanuka's home is depicted as a vibrant metropolis and provides a brilliant depiction of modern Tel Aviv. Archaia's edition of The Realist translates and collects both volumes of the work previously titled KO à Tel Aviv into a single book for the first time.
In 2010, Israeli newspaper The Calcalist asked Hanuka, already well known in Israel as a commercial illustrator and as a contributor to the animated film Waltz With Bashir, for a weekly comic strip. The first of the autobiographical strips chronicled Hanuka discovering that he and his wife and their young son need to find a new place to live, immediately and in a crazy Tel Aviv real estate market, because the apartment they’ve been renting has been sold. As an artist, husband, father or a regular Israeli citizen, Asaf Hanuka chronicles everyday life in his country, with humor that is offbeat and sometimes surreal. Shot for shot, Hanuka's home is depicted as a vibrant metropolis and provides a brilliant depiction of modern Tel Aviv. Archaia's edition of The Realist translates and collects both volumes of the work previously titled KO à Tel Aviv into a single book for the first time.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published May 25, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
February 24, 2018
The Realist is a weekly comic strip collection, unfolding Israeli cartoonist Asaf Hanuka's portrait of contemporary life, commenting on everything from marriage to technology to social activism through intimate moments of triumph and failure.
This year I've taken on the task of, slowly but surely, familiarizing my way through a number of Israeli authors. Hanuka's comics looked like the perfect component. His work seemed at first glance like an illustrated version of Etgar Keret's short story style.
So I began The Realist impressed by the author's individualistic style, but then in the same breath felt disappointed at the depiction of Asaf Hanuka's utterly mundane and commonplace life. It was mediocre at best and confusing at worst... Fighting with his wife, not feeling loved by his kid, which I want to note that it read like he, as a father, wasn't doing the best at showcasing his love, either. Such as, constantly being on the phone when his son is trying to connect with him. It just brought to mind Ellen Fisher’s point about how spending "quality, consistent time where your face is not in the phone" will only benefit you both. You can’t expect the bond between father and son to be there without working on it...
Also, at certain times during my reading experience, I felt like the flow from strip to strip was hard to grasp, especially when the author talked about his marriage. His skips around in time just didn't help the overarching theme.
Even though things didn’t really pan out the way I had planned or expected it to with The Realist, I fortunately still found some quiet little gems here and there that I'd like to share next:
I've never felt more seen as when I read the above touching comic.
Note: I'm an Amazon Affiliate. If you're interested in buying The Realist, just click on the image below to go through my link. I'll make a small commission!
This review and more can be found on my blog.
This year I've taken on the task of, slowly but surely, familiarizing my way through a number of Israeli authors. Hanuka's comics looked like the perfect component. His work seemed at first glance like an illustrated version of Etgar Keret's short story style.
So I began The Realist impressed by the author's individualistic style, but then in the same breath felt disappointed at the depiction of Asaf Hanuka's utterly mundane and commonplace life. It was mediocre at best and confusing at worst... Fighting with his wife, not feeling loved by his kid, which I want to note that it read like he, as a father, wasn't doing the best at showcasing his love, either. Such as, constantly being on the phone when his son is trying to connect with him. It just brought to mind Ellen Fisher’s point about how spending "quality, consistent time where your face is not in the phone" will only benefit you both. You can’t expect the bond between father and son to be there without working on it...
Also, at certain times during my reading experience, I felt like the flow from strip to strip was hard to grasp, especially when the author talked about his marriage. His skips around in time just didn't help the overarching theme.
Even though things didn’t really pan out the way I had planned or expected it to with The Realist, I fortunately still found some quiet little gems here and there that I'd like to share next:
I've never felt more seen as when I read the above touching comic.
Note: I'm an Amazon Affiliate. If you're interested in buying The Realist, just click on the image below to go through my link. I'll make a small commission!
This review and more can be found on my blog.
June 2, 2015
The Realist is a collection of Asaf Hanuka’s weekly strips from Israeli newspaper The Calcalist, translated into English for the first time.
They’re all a page long and mostly autobiographical, focusing on Hanuka’s fears, neuroses and insecurities, his Polish wife and their infant son, and life in Tel Aviv. Tonally they’re a mix of wry observational humour, magical realism, self-deprecating goofiness, and sober commentary.
In one strip his car’s in the shop, bloody intestines leaking out of the hood as Asaf sobs to the mechanic who looks at it like a doctor. In another his wife transforms into a werewolf and devours him when she’s on her period. In another he and his wife are arguing and he ends with “At least I’m real” as a pen inks in his face on the page.
Some of the issues are real - looking for a place for his family to live after they’re kicked out of their rental, worrying about money, keeping his marriage stable - and some are bizarre like his Facebook “likes” obsession where one page is just him with a wire from his computer into his veins, “likes” spewing from his open mouth into the air!
The art is absolutely fantastic and many times I’d turn the page to be blown away by a striking image like Asaf as a robot, his head open and the child version of him sitting in a chair looking worn out, or Asaf sitting at his desk drawing, gun to his head, pulling the trigger and colourful ideas floating out of the other side of his head.
The format killed it for me. It’s a collection of weekly strips so everything has to be contained within a single page. Reading page after page of that stop/start style doesn’t make for easy reading so I had to put the book down more than a few times to get through it - there’s just no flow to the book. There is a longer narrative at the end where Asaf comically imagines life in Tel Aviv in 2031 which I really liked. He can do sustained storytelling and I’d love to read something like that from him in the future.
The format and the fact that more than a few strips were fairly forgettable - weekly strips are usually like that - meant that The Realist didn’t leave much of an impression on me. I liked a lot of the strips and the art, and it’s definitely above average, but I can’t say I really liked it overall.
3.5 stars
They’re all a page long and mostly autobiographical, focusing on Hanuka’s fears, neuroses and insecurities, his Polish wife and their infant son, and life in Tel Aviv. Tonally they’re a mix of wry observational humour, magical realism, self-deprecating goofiness, and sober commentary.
In one strip his car’s in the shop, bloody intestines leaking out of the hood as Asaf sobs to the mechanic who looks at it like a doctor. In another his wife transforms into a werewolf and devours him when she’s on her period. In another he and his wife are arguing and he ends with “At least I’m real” as a pen inks in his face on the page.
Some of the issues are real - looking for a place for his family to live after they’re kicked out of their rental, worrying about money, keeping his marriage stable - and some are bizarre like his Facebook “likes” obsession where one page is just him with a wire from his computer into his veins, “likes” spewing from his open mouth into the air!
The art is absolutely fantastic and many times I’d turn the page to be blown away by a striking image like Asaf as a robot, his head open and the child version of him sitting in a chair looking worn out, or Asaf sitting at his desk drawing, gun to his head, pulling the trigger and colourful ideas floating out of the other side of his head.
The format killed it for me. It’s a collection of weekly strips so everything has to be contained within a single page. Reading page after page of that stop/start style doesn’t make for easy reading so I had to put the book down more than a few times to get through it - there’s just no flow to the book. There is a longer narrative at the end where Asaf comically imagines life in Tel Aviv in 2031 which I really liked. He can do sustained storytelling and I’d love to read something like that from him in the future.
The format and the fact that more than a few strips were fairly forgettable - weekly strips are usually like that - meant that The Realist didn’t leave much of an impression on me. I liked a lot of the strips and the art, and it’s definitely above average, but I can’t say I really liked it overall.
3.5 stars
April 23, 2015
A fun look at parenting - still gorgeous, though a bit rougher and looser in style than what the Hanuka brothers are usually known for, which makes these humorous and thoughtful (semi?)autobiographical shorts feel more personal and real.
October 28, 2016
I wasn't sure what to make of this at first. The title is both descriptive and ironic at the same time, which sums up Hanuka's work pretty nicely, I think. This is a collection of weekly strips that, while somewhat autobiographical in nature, also contain elements of fantasy and surrealism. Hanuka freely mixes allegory with actual events to create a blend that reads as some sort of higher reality. For example, in, "Handy Man," we have a single page illustration of Hanuka up on a step ladder hanging a large mirror as his wife looks on, somewhat anxiously. The reflection in the mirror, though, shows him as a superhero, with a costume that resembles Superman's. Not all of these strips are funny--indeed, some approach Robert Crumb-ish levels of anxiety and depression. His artwork is lovely, detailed yet clear, and he displays a remarkable facility for conveying complicated concepts simply. I really enjoyed this book. I understand that there's at least one sequel out there. You can be sure I'll be looking for it!
August 11, 2015
A collection of weekly strips that is both interesting and uneven, as you might expect from a collection. The focus is on life in Tel Aviv, struggles with money, and mainly about parenting, with neuroses and self deprecation. I think it seems unique and sort of surreal in places, where anxiety erupts into crazy paranoia, but on the whole he is trying to make fun of himself, be funny about his stressed out life. I thought it was all right, I liked it, wasn't blown away by it. Maybe if I read more of his work I will get more comfortable with his sense of humor and his style, which seems original for me. For instance, there's one page where a mechanic is diagnosing his car like a doctor, basically telling him he did all he can do, and spilling out of the engine is bloody intestines. . . funny? Sure, pretty funny, I thought.
September 16, 2020
(3.5 stars rounded up) The Realist is a collection of Asaf Hanuka’s weekly comic strips published in an Israeli newspaper. They’re mostly autobiographical, detailing Hanuka’s life in Tel Aviv with his wife and children. These are not funny comics. They deal with Hanuka’s fears and insecurities. The art work is gorgeous, but I never really connected with the author and the content. Surely something in the artist’s life is uplifting and positive. What’s shown is so depressing it’s hard to read page after page.
June 23, 2017
A collection of Hanuka's weekly comic strip for the last several years. It's a series of one page musings on life in Tel Aviv, family, and money, sometimes surreal. The ones I liked best were the one panel stories that used metaphors to tell the story. Hunaka's art is fantastic. I'd love to see him do a monthly book.
November 11, 2020
Great Book
this was an excellent collection, short vignettes rendering the real surreal. One part self loathing and two parts introspective. The artwork is thought provoking and enjoyable.
this was an excellent collection, short vignettes rendering the real surreal. One part self loathing and two parts introspective. The artwork is thought provoking and enjoyable.
January 7, 2018
Utilizar a BD como crónica de costumes, utilizando a vida pessoal do autor como ponto de partida para, em modo biográfico, retratar a sociedade que o rodeia, tem sido uma das principais vertentes do género. Sem puxar muito pela memória, Crumb, Spiegelman, Pekar ou Delisle são alguns dos expoentes desta vertente. Não é um estilo que me atraia muito, precisamente devido ao forte cunho pessoal destas obras. Têm um foco algo umbiguista, de exploração de neuroses e dramas pessoais, que sendo totalmente legítimo e bem explorado em termos artísticos, não me toca por aí além. Não gostar de temas não implica que se descredibilize obras, há que saber olhar para além do instinto pessoal.
O que me levou a quebrar o evitar deste tipo de banda desenhada foi a proveniência do autor. Israel é um país do qual pouco conheço, à exceção de apontamentos históricos e do que dele se discute nas notícias, raramente pelas melhores razões. Como será viver uma vida normal naquele país, militarizado, que aparenta uma mentalidade de estado de sítio permanente, sob ameaça de guerras e terrorismo, que ocupa impunemente territórios conquistados e empurra para o que de facto são ghettos a população palestiniana? É possível ser-se normal, definindo esta normalidade pelo profissionalismo e vida de classe média?
A sociedade em geral, os conflitos, medos de ataque e violência nas ruas, estão muito presentes ao longo desta obra. Raramente como centro das suas histórias. Fazem parte de um ensurdecedor ruído de fundo, mas o que sobressai é o elogio da banalidade. Hanuka traça um retrato de si próprio como artista, pai e marido, alguém que teme o acumular de contas, tem as suas obsessões pessoais, luta para manter uma vida tranquila com os filhos e manter acesa a chama do amor pela mulher no meio das banalidades da vida. Em essência, é a história de todos nós, excetuando alguns pormenores específicos da cultura judaica, este K.O. tanto poderia ser em Telavive como em Lisboa ou num aldeia, algures.
Hanuka é um desenhador arguto, o melhor das suas narrativas passa-se ao nível visual, sente-se que o texto meramente acompanha a história. As metáforas visuais que invoca, de um surrealismo critico, são o seu elemento narrativo fundamental.
O que me levou a quebrar o evitar deste tipo de banda desenhada foi a proveniência do autor. Israel é um país do qual pouco conheço, à exceção de apontamentos históricos e do que dele se discute nas notícias, raramente pelas melhores razões. Como será viver uma vida normal naquele país, militarizado, que aparenta uma mentalidade de estado de sítio permanente, sob ameaça de guerras e terrorismo, que ocupa impunemente territórios conquistados e empurra para o que de facto são ghettos a população palestiniana? É possível ser-se normal, definindo esta normalidade pelo profissionalismo e vida de classe média?
A sociedade em geral, os conflitos, medos de ataque e violência nas ruas, estão muito presentes ao longo desta obra. Raramente como centro das suas histórias. Fazem parte de um ensurdecedor ruído de fundo, mas o que sobressai é o elogio da banalidade. Hanuka traça um retrato de si próprio como artista, pai e marido, alguém que teme o acumular de contas, tem as suas obsessões pessoais, luta para manter uma vida tranquila com os filhos e manter acesa a chama do amor pela mulher no meio das banalidades da vida. Em essência, é a história de todos nós, excetuando alguns pormenores específicos da cultura judaica, este K.O. tanto poderia ser em Telavive como em Lisboa ou num aldeia, algures.
Hanuka é um desenhador arguto, o melhor das suas narrativas passa-se ao nível visual, sente-se que o texto meramente acompanha a história. As metáforas visuais que invoca, de um surrealismo critico, são o seu elemento narrativo fundamental.
June 22, 2021
A really good book with some absolutely great moments. I don't usually like comics that are collected 'daily strips' like this. However I feel like I have just read a master in this field - with Hanuka's ability to capture and convey very real moments in his life and his unique but very relatable perspective on said moments in just a simple 9 panel grid, sometimes with just one very surreal image. It was a joy.
This book was honest and vulnerable and I will be looking out for more of his work.
This book was honest and vulnerable and I will be looking out for more of his work.
December 26, 2021
Uma coletânea de tiras de um jornal diário.
Algumas muito bem conseguidas mas outras menos. Aborda os temas do quotidiano de forma crítica e cínica, desde a integração na sociedade à violência policial; do casamento ao dinheiro.
Com um desenho reflete todos os sentimentos e contradições que nos preenchem.
Algumas muito bem conseguidas mas outras menos. Aborda os temas do quotidiano de forma crítica e cínica, desde a integração na sociedade à violência policial; do casamento ao dinheiro.
Com um desenho reflete todos os sentimentos e contradições que nos preenchem.
August 14, 2017
cada prancha uma historia. no conjunto retrato cruel da condicao do homem comum contemporaneo. despudoradamente franco. a rever.
September 9, 2023
Of course this guy loves Watchmen.
April 16, 2019
Gosto mais quando o livro conta uma história, do que quando deixa temas da vida numa página só.
May 24, 2017
It's always interesting to read biographical comics and from an Israeli comic book maker no less. The Realist consists of strips that center around Hanuka's life, but there's hardly any plot or even a theme. Mostly it's just slightly vague and sporadic, which kind of eats the value of interest. Mostly I was interested in the political setting of Israel, but sadly so the comic avoids it almost totally unless you count the probable looming war and what happens in the news. The comic is more about Hanuka's own life, his work, family and crisis that is hard to define. I'm not saying this isn't a good approach, but I felt that lots of potential was lost. Another juicy part was his wife and kids, who look Western and how that works against Hanuka's own looks in Israel, but he barely scratched the whole thing. Perhaps I had too many expectations that weren't based on anything, really, and thus the disappointment was bigger.
The art is a mixture of reality and wonky ways. Thus there are more than one color theme and all in all, it so much depends on the story Hanuka wants to tell. I actually enjoyed this, since it shifted the angle with every new setting. Sometimes the comic felt like it was made on acid though, and trying to find the meaning was hard be it story- or art-wise. The comic is interesting, if you don't expect too much, but it would be better to read it in parts instead of like this. The structure just isn't all that great for something like this.
The art is a mixture of reality and wonky ways. Thus there are more than one color theme and all in all, it so much depends on the story Hanuka wants to tell. I actually enjoyed this, since it shifted the angle with every new setting. Sometimes the comic felt like it was made on acid though, and trying to find the meaning was hard be it story- or art-wise. The comic is interesting, if you don't expect too much, but it would be better to read it in parts instead of like this. The structure just isn't all that great for something like this.
January 31, 2019
131215: another collection of work that is in exactly the right medium. i can see these as strips, as autobiographical overarching structure, of surrealist take on the ordinary life of an ordinary man- with wife, kids, city, history, that is easy to read, comic, satirical, funny and sad. there are some takes that use images to tell an angle that could not otherwise be shown eg. fun with facebook likes, comments, trying to understand underground art, other life of waiting impatiently for coffee relative to what the service has to go through just to get there...
art is representational, clean, simple, not too abstract but in many cases surreal, more illustrative and narrative than works of individual art. some bleak images of the future near and far, also catching the times of uncertainty because of war yet to begin or already begun. paris and art dream vs. prague as the almost city. apolitical life impossible in buying a junk car, wondering what has happened to an arabic cartoonist he knows, caught in a demonstration trying to fix a tablet casual racism and police violence...
there are single panel works of understated satirical images, in everything from wife buying shoes to astronaut not listening to wife, to entrails of a car at mechanics, to sudden immensity of a son going through spurt of growth... all very good, all the right art, the right medium...
art is representational, clean, simple, not too abstract but in many cases surreal, more illustrative and narrative than works of individual art. some bleak images of the future near and far, also catching the times of uncertainty because of war yet to begin or already begun. paris and art dream vs. prague as the almost city. apolitical life impossible in buying a junk car, wondering what has happened to an arabic cartoonist he knows, caught in a demonstration trying to fix a tablet casual racism and police violence...
there are single panel works of understated satirical images, in everything from wife buying shoes to astronaut not listening to wife, to entrails of a car at mechanics, to sudden immensity of a son going through spurt of growth... all very good, all the right art, the right medium...
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January 3, 2016Appreciated the insight into everyday Israeli life, but wished there were dates on the strips so I could connect real-life events with what was being depicted in the strips. I felt like I was missing that piece of experiencing the stories as they were published, in a very specific time and place. Of course, not everything was like this, and the strips that relied less on outside knowledge were much more enjoyable. The artwork is surprisingly detailed for this type of strip, and the coloring adds depth and dimension and meaning to everything. There are sparks of Harvey Pekar, but much less morose and cynical.
November 17, 2023
Прекрасна на графічному, технічному та сюжетному рівнях збірка найкращих робіт ізраїльського художника, що завоював міжнародного глядача своїми іноді сюрреалістичними, іноді абсурдними, іноді смішними, іноді глибокими стріпами та повносторінковими ілюстраціями, які публікувалися в журналах різного штибу. В збірці присутній оцей журнальний дух, що аж мовить - ця робота була створена для сторінок печатних видань. Проте естетика, самоіронія, кількість алюзій в кожній ілюстрації не може не захоплювати.
June 11, 2016
Otra estupenda sorpresa. Conocía el trabajo gráfico de Hanuka por la novela gráfica basada en la estupenda Pizzeria Kamikaze de Etgar Keret, pero en esta oportunidad me encontré con un montón de tiras cómicas sobre su vida como dibujante, su familia y distintos temas, tocados de manera muy humana, llena de humor negro, además en un estilo muy dinámico y limpio.
May 26, 2015
Asaf dear, you are a genius.
I don't know why I found pieces of me in this collection when we couldn't be further apart.
Nevertheless this is brilliant.
Both thumbs up.
I don't know why I found pieces of me in this collection when we couldn't be further apart.
Nevertheless this is brilliant.
Both thumbs up.
March 6, 2021
Книга «The Realist» состоит из примерно двух сотен очень техничных стрипов художника Асава Ханука, которые в течение четырех лет еженедельно публиковались в израильской кальке журнала «The Economist». Главный персонаж комиксов — сам Асав, иллюстратор из Тель-Авива. В короткой, почти упрощенной форме он рассказывает в основном о себе же: один печатный лист — одно переживание: отношения с сыном, безденежье, экономический кризис, переезд, творческий поиск, груз отцовства…
В общем, легко представить эти работы в виде отдельных публикаций: графичных, хлестких и язвительных — в отрыве друг от друга стрипы Асава рассказывают о среднем человеке среднего класса, который честно работает и так же честно устает от жизни. В каждом отдельном стрипе легко представить себе что мы снова случайно застали героя в сложный момент, буквально в двух шагах от поворота за которым будут и слава, и счастливые отношения в семье, и душевное равновесие. Но, к сожалению, в контексте книги этот читательский оптимизм перестает работать уже к 30-й странице — череда бытовых зарисовок гнетет, а Асав тянет за собой все ниже и ниже в какую-то беспросветную бездну уныния и самоуничижения.
В формате книги то, что в отдельных комиксах принималось за самоиронию, начинает выглядеть как авторская самовлюбленность и бесконечная сфокусированность на внутреннем ребенке, который все время хочет играть в свои собственные игры, но вынужден играть в игры сына, говорить с женой и работать за деньги и внимание. И вот в этот момент книга и ломается — без симпатии к автору, без ассоциации себя с героем Асава, его стрипы лопаются как пузырь и просто перестают работать.
Было бы нечестно не отметить, что как иллюстратор и автор комиксов Асав Ханука просто великолепен: его кадры графичны, но не перегружены деталями, в каждом стрипе нет-нет да и найдется пару отличных визуальных рифм и находок. Зачастую позы и мимика его персонажей пластичны настолько, что текстовые вставки смотрятся излишними. Цветовая палитра в основном лаконична и не доминирует графику, а напротив удачно работает на настроение каждого отдельного кадра — сами же работы остаются при этом яркими и красочными.
Откровенно жалею, что три дня продирался через «Реалиста» вместо того, чтобы остановиться на десятке лучших стрипов автора.
В общем, легко представить эти работы в виде отдельных публикаций: графичных, хлестких и язвительных — в отрыве друг от друга стрипы Асава рассказывают о среднем человеке среднего класса, который честно работает и так же честно устает от жизни. В каждом отдельном стрипе легко представить себе что мы снова случайно застали героя в сложный момент, буквально в двух шагах от поворота за которым будут и слава, и счастливые отношения в семье, и душевное равновесие. Но, к сожалению, в контексте книги этот читательский оптимизм перестает работать уже к 30-й странице — череда бытовых зарисовок гнетет, а Асав тянет за собой все ниже и ниже в какую-то беспросветную бездну уныния и самоуничижения.
В формате книги то, что в отдельных комиксах принималось за самоиронию, начинает выглядеть как авторская самовлюбленность и бесконечная сфокусированность на внутреннем ребенке, который все время хочет играть в свои собственные игры, но вынужден играть в игры сына, говорить с женой и работать за деньги и внимание. И вот в этот момент книга и ломается — без симпатии к автору, без ассоциации себя с героем Асава, его стрипы лопаются как пузырь и просто перестают работать.
Было бы нечестно не отметить, что как иллюстратор и автор комиксов Асав Ханука просто великолепен: его кадры графичны, но не перегружены деталями, в каждом стрипе нет-нет да и найдется пару отличных визуальных рифм и находок. Зачастую позы и мимика его персонажей пластичны настолько, что текстовые вставки смотрятся излишними. Цветовая палитра в основном лаконична и не доминирует графику, а напротив удачно работает на настроение каждого отдельного кадра — сами же работы остаются при этом яркими и красочными.
Откровенно жалею, что три дня продирался через «Реалиста» вместо того, чтобы остановиться на десятке лучших стрипов автора.
May 22, 2020
I struggled with The Realist by Asaf Hanuka not because it wasn’t beautiful or cleverly written or immensely creative, but because of the overarching narrative of a regular guy in Tel Aviv who refuses to grapple with the Israeli state’s persecution of Palestinians. To be fair, most of the 1 page weekly strips are about Hanuka’s home life, artistic desires and doubts, and creative endeavors. But when the strips about Israel and war crop up, Hanuka attempts to either imply ignorance or casual acceptance of the Israeli state’s crimes against humanity. He often takes a basic "guess this is bad/sad" position. To be clear, I am not an anti-semite, but I am pro-Palestine because of the human rights violations that Israel continues to inflict. No country can do-no-wrong; there is always an ugliness to politics and any religion.
So that makes it a little hard to enjoy the book. Despite loving most of the strips or giant illustrations - staring at them in awe - the whole issue of Palestine kept on cropping up in the back of my head. It just felt like Hanuka keeps his head down, ignores some of the abuses, but also makes a strip about war and peace without actually confronting the issues directly. He continually pulls the neutral card out and doesn’t make a stand either way, which, to be fair, would be really hard to do in an Israeli newspaper. So, I understand that difficulty.
If you can look past my hang-ups, you’re presented with an incredibly intricate, beautiful, and creative book that will easily blow you away. Even the pages with lots of panels are packed in incredible detail. The flat coloring is bright and bold. Hanuka’s imagination is almost unrestricted and quite unlike anyone else’s in the industry. His ability to mash two concepts together is fascinating… but, y’know, Palestine.
So that makes it a little hard to enjoy the book. Despite loving most of the strips or giant illustrations - staring at them in awe - the whole issue of Palestine kept on cropping up in the back of my head. It just felt like Hanuka keeps his head down, ignores some of the abuses, but also makes a strip about war and peace without actually confronting the issues directly. He continually pulls the neutral card out and doesn’t make a stand either way, which, to be fair, would be really hard to do in an Israeli newspaper. So, I understand that difficulty.
If you can look past my hang-ups, you’re presented with an incredibly intricate, beautiful, and creative book that will easily blow you away. Even the pages with lots of panels are packed in incredible detail. The flat coloring is bright and bold. Hanuka’s imagination is almost unrestricted and quite unlike anyone else’s in the industry. His ability to mash two concepts together is fascinating… but, y’know, Palestine.
May 30, 2017
Asaf Hanuka (znany nam z Walca z Baszirem) mieszka w Izraelu i, jak wiele wrażliwych osób, ma sporo problemów z tamtejszą rzeczywistością. Ciągłe zagrożenie, agresywny nacjonalizm (to znaczy: polityka bezpieczeństwa), bezlitośnie windowane ceny mieszkań, jedzenia, produktów higienicznych… Jak widać, nie tylko nadwrażliwcy mogą sobie z tym słabo radzić. Hanuka zawarł wszystkie te mniej czy bardziej egzystencjalne niepokoje w The Realist, zbiorze komiksowych paneli (od pojedynczych obrazków do 9-kadrowych historii) publikowanych co tydzień na łamach gazety, bloga i facebookowego konta rysownika – także The Realist.
Zbiór zaczyna się od kilku epizodów na wspólny temat – rynek mieszkań w Tel Awiwie z jego nagłymi wymówieniami umów, wysokimi czynszami i licznymi brakami. To prace poniekąd na zamówienie, z których miała powstać dłuższa opowieść jedynie o problemach z nieruchomościami. Jednak komiks rozrósł się do kolekcji krótkich, trafnych obserwacji o wielu aspektach życia w Izraelu, rodzinie, on-line… Hanuka ma błękitnooką żonę, dwójkę dzieci (młodsze urodziło się w czasie, gdy powstawały rysunki z tego tomu), brata bliźniaka (Tomera Hanukę, autora The Divine) mieszkającego w Nowym Jorku i mizrahijskie pochodzenie (czytaj: wygląda dla reszty Izraela jak przeciętny Arab, a nie Żyd). Wszystko to trafiło do jego prac, tworząc pełną absurdów mieszankę autobiograficznych anegdot i surrealistycznych metafor.
reszta: https://nietylkogry.pl/post/recenzja-...
Zbiór zaczyna się od kilku epizodów na wspólny temat – rynek mieszkań w Tel Awiwie z jego nagłymi wymówieniami umów, wysokimi czynszami i licznymi brakami. To prace poniekąd na zamówienie, z których miała powstać dłuższa opowieść jedynie o problemach z nieruchomościami. Jednak komiks rozrósł się do kolekcji krótkich, trafnych obserwacji o wielu aspektach życia w Izraelu, rodzinie, on-line… Hanuka ma błękitnooką żonę, dwójkę dzieci (młodsze urodziło się w czasie, gdy powstawały rysunki z tego tomu), brata bliźniaka (Tomera Hanukę, autora The Divine) mieszkającego w Nowym Jorku i mizrahijskie pochodzenie (czytaj: wygląda dla reszty Izraela jak przeciętny Arab, a nie Żyd). Wszystko to trafiło do jego prac, tworząc pełną absurdów mieszankę autobiograficznych anegdot i surrealistycznych metafor.
reszta: https://nietylkogry.pl/post/recenzja-...
May 5, 2017
'The Realist' by Asaf Hanunka is a graphic novel. It's a series of weekly strips he created for an Israeli paper called the Calcalist.
The strips are about Hanuka, his wife, and their young son. It's their life in Tel Aviv as they look for a new place to live. Some strips have a surreal quality. There are strips about people worried about bombings and leaving the city. There are strips about marriage and raising a child. There are also full page drawings, like one that shows the apartment they are looking at with a mirror reflection of the apartment they are idealizing. Or a broken down car oozing with human organs at the mechanics shop.
The artist is a commercial illustrator and also a contributor to the animated film Waltz With Bashir. His look at the city he lives in is funny at times, and strange. I really enjoyed reading this graphic novel. The art is really great, moving between more cartoonish and more realistic and weirdly surreal. I liked the strips, but the full page drawings were my favorites.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Archaia, BOOM! Studios, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
The strips are about Hanuka, his wife, and their young son. It's their life in Tel Aviv as they look for a new place to live. Some strips have a surreal quality. There are strips about people worried about bombings and leaving the city. There are strips about marriage and raising a child. There are also full page drawings, like one that shows the apartment they are looking at with a mirror reflection of the apartment they are idealizing. Or a broken down car oozing with human organs at the mechanics shop.
The artist is a commercial illustrator and also a contributor to the animated film Waltz With Bashir. His look at the city he lives in is funny at times, and strange. I really enjoyed reading this graphic novel. The art is really great, moving between more cartoonish and more realistic and weirdly surreal. I liked the strips, but the full page drawings were my favorites.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Archaia, BOOM! Studios, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
June 21, 2017
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this book.
This is mainly a collection of one page comics- or very short stories, with various themes. Some of them I really liked, but a lot of them I just didn't understand. It had a good mix of some pages with very minimal or no text, and then some pages where the text was quite important and it told a story alongside the pictures. I thought some of the comics were too short to really get anything from before you go onto the next one- and I feel like you're just thrown into this man's life without any context. I'm not sure if I just enjoyed some of the comics in the 2nd half more than the 1st or maybe I was just getting used to the style but I'd say most of my favourites were later on in the collection.
There were some comics that were relatable or that made you think from someone else's perspective that I liked, and there were some funny ones. The art was really lovely and the colours were very aesthetically pleasing. I think this would look beautiful as a physical book- but I'm not sure if for me it'd be worth the money. Either way, it was enjoyable to read.
This is mainly a collection of one page comics- or very short stories, with various themes. Some of them I really liked, but a lot of them I just didn't understand. It had a good mix of some pages with very minimal or no text, and then some pages where the text was quite important and it told a story alongside the pictures. I thought some of the comics were too short to really get anything from before you go onto the next one- and I feel like you're just thrown into this man's life without any context. I'm not sure if I just enjoyed some of the comics in the 2nd half more than the 1st or maybe I was just getting used to the style but I'd say most of my favourites were later on in the collection.
There were some comics that were relatable or that made you think from someone else's perspective that I liked, and there were some funny ones. The art was really lovely and the colours were very aesthetically pleasing. I think this would look beautiful as a physical book- but I'm not sure if for me it'd be worth the money. Either way, it was enjoyable to read.
May 9, 2017
While not entirely my cup of tea in terms of style and content, the artistry in this book was remarkable. Most of the book is single panel, full-page images or one-page comic strips. There was a 10-page science fictional/political story, as well as a few other odd pieces, but most of the stories are realist/surrealist blends of a version of the artist's own life.
This is one of those weird cases where I might not read his other work on the basis of this one, but I would definitely recommend it to other people who might enjoy it.
Then again, I might read more of his work, only to find the gems that really did appeal to me, like a beautiful piece about being a father, told in a four-panel parable comparing life to a group of superheroes.
The weakest parts were the ongoing strips about his failure to communicate with his wife, which left me wondering why he doesn't just show her the strips about it. I mean, that would be better than just sitting back and complaining.
This is one of those weird cases where I might not read his other work on the basis of this one, but I would definitely recommend it to other people who might enjoy it.
Then again, I might read more of his work, only to find the gems that really did appeal to me, like a beautiful piece about being a father, told in a four-panel parable comparing life to a group of superheroes.
The weakest parts were the ongoing strips about his failure to communicate with his wife, which left me wondering why he doesn't just show her the strips about it. I mean, that would be better than just sitting back and complaining.
January 22, 2018
Hanuka is a skilled observer of the world and manages to wring dry, often painful humor from daily life. Daily life in Israel, that is, so many of his comics feature bombings and the spectre of war. Fun stuff! Hanuka also seems to have an extremely strange relationship with his wife and son, but maybe I was reading too much into the reality of his work and should have taken it with a grain of salt?
Regardless, it seemed like for every comic that landed humorously or thoughtfully, there were a dozen pages of navel-gazing. I get that he's illustrating his own life, which requires a bit of self-awareness, but when every other comic finds him examining his self-centeredness, it's hard not to want to shake him and say "Get over trying to get over yourself, dude!"
Regardless, it seemed like for every comic that landed humorously or thoughtfully, there were a dozen pages of navel-gazing. I get that he's illustrating his own life, which requires a bit of self-awareness, but when every other comic finds him examining his self-centeredness, it's hard not to want to shake him and say "Get over trying to get over yourself, dude!"
August 27, 2019
A large collection of comic strips and cartoons that take a comic sometime sobering look at marriage, children, work, child rearing, anxiety, deadlines and all the other life events one encounters in their 30's and early 40's..
The author/ cartoonist is an immigrant Iraqi Jew living in Tel Aviv. And while he is not politically oriented he does brings a unique perspective as an Arab to his domestic life in Israel.
As a sample of the type of humor he presents i would point to the cover art which is a self portrait of the artist and his son in a boxing ring with the artist drawn in a sepia tone looking defeated and the son in bright red looking to take on whatever comes his way, Title of the cartoon is "Second Chance".
I would highly recommend this collection.
The author/ cartoonist is an immigrant Iraqi Jew living in Tel Aviv. And while he is not politically oriented he does brings a unique perspective as an Arab to his domestic life in Israel.
As a sample of the type of humor he presents i would point to the cover art which is a self portrait of the artist and his son in a boxing ring with the artist drawn in a sepia tone looking defeated and the son in bright red looking to take on whatever comes his way, Title of the cartoon is "Second Chance".
I would highly recommend this collection.
February 23, 2023
Delightful until racial faux pas
I really enjoyed the flow and symbolism used throughout. It was entertaining and hit a lot of nuggets of wisdom not really touched on in other works, for example the paradox of having to have money to be lended money. So it came as a shock when I came across the panel where he discusses an African troupe performing during his vacation. He says “REAL AFRICANS, they were probably from the jungle where they lived free” this type of rhetoric is extremely politically incorrect and offensive. I find it hard to believe a man with such a sharp mind and racial background would make such an observation.
I really enjoyed the flow and symbolism used throughout. It was entertaining and hit a lot of nuggets of wisdom not really touched on in other works, for example the paradox of having to have money to be lended money. So it came as a shock when I came across the panel where he discusses an African troupe performing during his vacation. He says “REAL AFRICANS, they were probably from the jungle where they lived free” this type of rhetoric is extremely politically incorrect and offensive. I find it hard to believe a man with such a sharp mind and racial background would make such an observation.
May 6, 2023
Asaf Hanuka's artwork in the this collection is a joy to behold, from vibrant & colourful to surreal & introspective, with many other styles covered in-between, to suit each one-page vignette (except at the very end where it opens out into a multi-page dystopian quest (set in the not-so-far-away 2031) as he tries, in vain, to get an antique tablet repaired on the chaotic streets of Tel Aviv).
The subjects within each revolve around his family, work and Israeli life now, as they were written & drawn, including touching on the fractured politics surrounding him, his wife and children.
The subjects within each revolve around his family, work and Israeli life now, as they were written & drawn, including touching on the fractured politics surrounding him, his wife and children.
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