MADreads

The perfect number is lonely

July 21st, 2008 Barbara - Alicia Ashman

I caught an earworm tonight.

It is Harry Nilsson’s golden oldie, One (”is the loneliest number“) as sung by Aimee Mann.  You know, her cover featured in the film Magnolia.  Anyhow, like a bad case of fleas, this tune is hard to shake off.  My apologies if passed along to you…

I’m blaming acquisition of the earworm on a seemingly unrelated source.  My condition was triggered by idly thinking about a book title — Igort’s fabulous graphic novel Five is the Perfect Number — and musing on why it doesn’t get checked out more frequently.  The book was first published in Italy in 2003 and went on to make a big impression, sweeping up numerous European book awards, including Book of the Year at the Frankfurt Book Fair.  I am a big fan of this graphic novel.  It is terrific and you should take it home and give it a read!

Five is the Perfect Number tells the story of an aged, retired hit man, Peppino Lo Cicero, who is lured back into action by the murder of his hit man son, Nino.  Peppino, who had literally checked out and gone fishing, is suddenly back in the game, big time, fighting back against the big fish: Don Guarino and Don Lava and their respective henchmen.  Both sides are out for blood.  Our anti-heroes include Peppino’s retired fellow guappo, Salvato (reluctantly dragged away from his begonias) plus a languid and limp mob doctor (who ends up showing a whole lotta spine) and the surprisingly tough sweetheart school teacher, Rita.

Set almost 40 years ago, in Naples, this is a big, cinematic Scorsese/Coppola fan’s comic, filled with righteousness and cruelty and love and honor and betrayal — all twisted together.  Emphasis on twisted.  It is messy and the art and story leap around.  There are strange, meltingly-presented dream sequences.  Critical bits of the plot are exposed through flashbacks rather than direct action. 

The book is a large-format volume, colored in elegant duotone blue and gray (hey, this is a book about hit men, there is a lot of bloodshed but not a drop of red ink on the pages).  The art is gorgeous, the storyline will suck you right in.

European comics are a hard sell to American readers, competing rather badly against Japanese and mainstream American products.  Igor Tuveri (aka Igort) lived and worked in Japan, his book not purely Euro-comic nor a Euro-manga knock-off.  Instead, it is a wonderful melange of styles and themes uniquely his own. Don’t miss this fine work, it deserves a much wider audience.

Don’t let it be lonely tonight! (oops, on to a new song)

Entry Filed under: Graphic Novel