Mini Review: Here by Richard McGuire

Here by Richard McGuire

Rating: ★★★★★
Links: Amazon • TBD • Goodreads
Publication Date: December 4, 2014
Source: Borrowed

Here is Richard McGuire’s unique graphic novel based on the legendary 1989 comic strip of the same name.

Richard McGuire’s groundbreaking comic strip Here was published under Art Spiegelman’s editorship at RAW in 1989.

Built in six pages of interlocking panels, dated by year, it collapsed time and space to tell the story of the corner of a room – and its inhabitants – between the years 500,957,406,073 BC and 2313 AD.

The strip remains one of the most influential and widely discussed contributions to the medium, and it has now been developed, expanded and reimagined by the artist into this full-length, full-colour graphic novel – a must for any fan of the genre.

I feel like I’m starting a lot of reviews recently by saying, “I want to start off by saying…” but here I am again, starting by saying something. In the case of Here, it’s that I’m not reviewing this as a book, because there’s really not a story here. I’m reviewing this as an entertainment experience and a work of art. Because, the thing is, there are very few words in Here. This is a book about a room, or even a place in the world, over the course of billions of years.

It’s hard to put into words what exactly I thought about this book, mostly because I was so impressed that a room could tell a story without any set characters and with very little dialogue. Some of my favorite scenes were the ones where the same thing was happening in the room decades apart. I also loved the prehistoric scenes since they had some of the most beautiful artwork.

It’s rare for me to want to buy a graphic novel after I finish it, but this is one I’d love to have on my shelf.

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