The Return of the Dapper Men

“We forgot to remember.”

What an absolutely Gorgeous graphic novel. Yup, it really needs that capital G right there, because, look at it!

And look at it some more!

Janet Lee’s illustrations are simple, and simply stunning. They speak volumes with their beautiful colours and backgrounds. Take that first example up there, I would be happy to put it up in my baby’s nursery.

The story of how the art was created was quite fascinating, as was the collaboration between writer (Jim McCann, who also writes for Marvel comics) and artist, and how much freedom Lee was given. The result, an absolutely gorgeous graphic novel, worth a second look for the illustrations themselves. However – and it is a big However – don’t read the  NetGalley e-copy like I did. The publisher’s large watermark was right smack in the middle of every.single.page. The result – I also ignored the gorgeous backgrounds of the cells, which I later learnt were hand-painted wood boards.

I suppose now I should tell you a bit about the story. Set in Anorev, a city where time has stood still and children (who never grow up) live down below ground and robots up above, The Return of the Dapper Men tells of the unlikely friendship between a human boy named Ayden and a robot girl named Zoe, and the 314 dapper gentlemen who fly in (with brollies and bowler hats, of course) to help. There’s a bit of an Alice in Wonderland vibe to the story. A little whimsy, a little fantasy, a childlike innocence to all of it, although I wasn’t as enchanted by the story as I thought I would. But Lee’s illustrations make up for any shortfall. Twice over even. So I hope you do get your hands on a copy (did I mention that the very dapper Tim Gunn writes the foreword?). I know that I’ll be keeping an eye out for more of Lee’s work.

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