The Lagoon


By Lilli Carré (Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN: 978-1-56097-954-8

What do your comics sound like? What beats and rhythms echo behind your eyes when you absorb pictorial narrative?

The Lagoon presents snatches of young Zoey’s experiences growing up in a rural outpost where she, her parents and her grandfather live beside a cold black lagoon. Within the brackish, weed-choked mire a bizarre, monstrous beast dwells, but her family and the sundry other disparate souls who live nearby gladly tolerate it since it does no obvious harm.

In fact, over the years the incredible, indescribable call of the creature in the night has led to many odd happenings and disappearances. The plaintive cry of the creature obsesses and possesses the humans and as years pass Zoey loses everyone but her grandpa to the night-singer. Her time is taken up with music and learning the piano. But all anyone really hears is that plaint on the midnight breezes…

Dark, ambiguously chilling and comfortable at the same time, the naïve-ist illustration compulsively uses patterns and symbols to depict how sounds look and music appears while recounting the relationship of the creature – far, far more than a dumb beast – and the inevitably maturing and isolated young girl. This intensely experimental picture-parable is mesmerising and powerfully effective for all its brevity.

Lilli Carr̩ first drew critical attention with her short stories (collected as Tales of Woodsman Pete) and this slim black and white tome Рher first graphic novel Рis another whimsical, expressive and bleakly enchanting exploration of great power and gentle lyricism. Far from our own self-created genre-ghettos this is a perfect book for the discerning reader in search of something different.

© 2008 Lilli Carré. All Rights Reserved.