GRAPHIC NOVEL REVIEW: A Glance Backward

HOW TO BECOME A MAN

Pierre Paquet and Tony Sandoval explore something more serious, trying to answer the question “what it takes to be man” even when one is still a child, in their collaborative masterpiece, A Glance Backward, released by Magnetic Press. The book has 87 pages and this is a very serious read. Thus, you are already notified.

This graphic novel is in itself an exploration of one child’s mental experiences and longings while confronting a very delicate situation in his real life existence. Powerful themes of trust, love, belongingness, acceptance, fear, and even existence are delicately and intricately tackled with the proper amount of sensitivity and gracefulness Paquet executed. If you love the movie Inside Out from Pixar, this one is virtually similarly the same in essence, only the ending is way different and some classical literary tales are highlighted in the most bizarre ways possible. The script is designed for both young children and adolescents, but ultimately reads more like a young adult and/or borderline mature reading due to the graphic illustrations in the later arc, and also the sensitivity of the main protagonist’s state of mind as the story’s plot unravels. Perhaps, this work must be taken contextually; and more so the parents’ and/or guardians’ guidance whenever their young loved ones read this gripping and mesmerizing visual narrative.

What actually sets the overall tone of this adolescent read is the continuing artistic excellence of Tony Sandoval. The paneling is both highly accessible and followed on the strict nine-panel grid, thus a very conventional flow and pacing as well. Yes, there are panels that are combined to demonstrate Sandoval’s flexibility and command in illustrating larger scenes as the breakdowns demand. Even a very few splash pages are done exquisitely and almost a visual breathtaking moment. His artistic sequences can be judged as inventive because on how he interprets the boy’s journey through various imaginative phases is no easy task of conceptualizing and executing those imageries. It is without the shadow of doubt why he is tasked to this delicate and artistically demanding responsibility. The various facial features are truly Sandoval-artistic signatures, and even though these are enlarged, exaggerated and simplistic to view, the artist executes the portrayals with such mastery of tenderly love, anxiety, fear, anger, and other emotional outputs possible, without resorting to bombastic or over-the-top artworks. Furthermore, his coloring applications are both mesmerizing, and in some pages, stunningly gorgeous. Beyond Paquet’s script, Sandoval’s color selection and its executions actually set the tone of the narrative and dictate the general atmospheric feel of the entire series. Just observe how the warm colors of red, pink, yellow and even white deliver a stunning sense of warmth of the main protagonist and his muse; while the same color palette can invoke fear and even so, despair when the situations dictate or the certain twists soon approach. Thus, Sandoval’s art is the true heavyweight in this visual literature.

However, as mentioned earlier, A Glance Backward is neither a feel-good children’s book nor a typical fairy-tale traditional set-up narrative. I am aware many genres have this kind of narrative tropes of delivering and/or presenting the unexpected, and this graphic novel tackles serious matters upon reaching the middle, and down the way to the finale. As a friendly reminder once again, parental guidance is definitely a must here. Moreover, some pages present some of Sandoval’s most graphic illustrations in the adolescent books yet so far. There are parts where violence and gore are shown deliberately to illustrate the point of the entire story itself, neither on the basis of shock value nor for violence’s sake. Some of these disturbing imageries are important, if not significant, part of the story, no more or less.

A Glance Backward is another excellent collaborative effort initiated by Magnetic Press in the minds and hands of Paquet and Sandoval. It has some of the best artworks by the latter, and it can be viewed as a sort of homage to some of the Western great literary tales, like Alice in Wonderland and Huckleberry Finn. But the underlining seriousness in the interiors, particularly the major character’s quasi-fairy-tale tour de force, can be seen as a red flag for young children, who may think this is another typical fairy-tale adaptation. Nonetheless, this graphic novel can be said as a visual treat and even a way of dealing with ourselves as well.

A Glance Backward will be released this December 2015,