Pénélope Bagieu should get brownie points for naming this graphic novel ‘Exquisite Corpse’, since it’s intriguing, and unlike a few works, not wholly misleading. I absolutely loved her artwork in ‘Brazen’, which I now know was published much later, but it’s what made me buy this earlier work blindly. You should go into the book blind too, because the fun lies in its twists. So this review is going to be super short too.
I had no clue what ‘Exquisite Corpse’ was about, but it follows a whiny, depressed shop girl called Zoe, who meets and begins having an affair with a mysterious stranger. Readers first meet Zoe as a doe-eyed young woman stuck with an unemployed boyfriend, a dead-end job, and not much to look forward to. That changes when she spots a peculiar man staring at her from his apartment window, leading to a slightly implausible first meeting.
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The artwork of course is the best part of ‘Exquisite Corpse’, with Pénélope Bagieu carefully using contrasting colors and shifting tones to draw different parts of her life. For instance, the first four pages give the readers a sense of what Zoe’s work life is like, featuring lots of red and green tones. One she is at home with her boyfriend, she colors are a bleak blue overall, giving a sense of just how drab and lifeless the relationship is.
If you’re already a fan of Pénélope Bagieu and haven’t read ‘Exquisite Corpse’ yet, it’s definitely worth picking up for the illustrations alone. I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re looking for a particularly strong story though. At its core, it’s about a not-so-bright young woman who unexpectedly falls for a reclusive author, only for their relationship to gradually curdle into something far less romantic. Themes of love, loneliness, ambition, and obsession run through the novel, but given its slim page count, none of them are explored with much depth.
The plot needed more work and is quite unrealistic in places. In fact, the climactic twist is extremely convenient, abrupt, and will surely divide readers. For me, the ending was more chuckle-worthy than annoying, and it made ‘Exquisite Corpse’ a decent one-time read. I might just flip through the pages again for the artwork.
Rating: 3 stars on 5.
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oh my – that went sideways for me
1st – great review -. i think this actually sounds pretty curte and interesting, and i plan to see if i can snag a copy someplace.
2nd – This shares a title with a horror romance novel by Poppy Z Brite back from the 90’s that made me stop and wonder if it was related. Say men in the bayou who fall in love before meeting a cannibal .. pretty dark so by title alone, i had to stop and say “Hi”
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FYI – your comments are broken on pretty much every browser (google, safari, duck duck go, mobile safari, mobile chrome) –
once you type text, no one can get to the submit button.. i have to manipulate the page data to turn on iframe scrolling=yes to be able to get to it. otherwise, no way to do it.
Thank you!
Didn’t know about the Poppy Z. Brite novel until your comment. It sounds a lot grittier and probably has very little in common with this graphic novel though. I think I am going to add Poppy’s title to my ‘to read’ list.
Also, I will try to see if I can do something about the comment section. And thank you for taking the effort and saying hi 😊