Tanpopo review
It’s been so long since I sat down to write a review of something I’ve read that I’m probably a bit rusty. We’ll see.
Tanpopo by Camilla D’Errico is a strange mix of classic poetry, manga and color. On some levels, it works. On others…
Volume 1 is based on Goethe’s Faust. The text comes straight from that poem and the artwork re-imagines it as a new story. Unfortunately, Goethe isn’t very accessible. Which is fine. I’m not saying that art has to be entirely accessible to everyone but it does make it difficult. I had a hard time understanding both the poem and the artwork together because, having not studied Faust, I had no context. I was thrown into a world that I couldn’t quite get a grasp on and so much of it made no sense. Tanpopo appears to be a girl or a robot or an angel hooked up to a machine and she is saved by the devil. A devil who is alternately a cute bunny thing and a hot boy. I do like hot boys.
The second volume is based around the Rime of the Ancient Mariner and this poem I know. This poem, I really love. Therein lies the danger of adapting well known, well loved literature. I’m not sure I wanted or enjoyed seeing a poem I like turned into a teenage bully story. In this volume Tanpopo is threatened by a group of teenagers mad that they think she killed a bird. I guess?
Whether I missed the meaning of these interpretations or the writer missed expressing them clearly, I’m not sure. What I was sure about was that I would keep turning pages just to see the artwork.
It’s raw, for sure. It reminds me of leaning over in study hall and catching site of a friends notebook. Impressive and startling but unfocused. D’Errico is an accomplished artist and so this feeling is certainly intentional. Tanpopo and the devil are haunting. In volume two, the drawings of the albatrosses show her depth and range. She combines traditional manga-style illustrations with splashes of color and a scratchy, unhinged stroke. She lets the drawings take over the page, leaving out conventional sequential storytelling methods like panels and word balloons. Certainly, taking on this sort of experimental style is brave. However, I would have preferred an original story. The characters seem well-defined in D’Errico’s mind. I would like to see them stand on their own, in their own story, their own words.
copy provided by publisher
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
Sadie, thanks so much for the review and for your thoughts (especially the part about hot boys 
! ). I actually hope that my works will entice people to read up on the original literature.
I know that without the context or an explanation of what I’m trying to do with the books, it isn’t so easy to get dropped into this world, especially not the first book, because it was so much more raw than the second one.
Tanpopo and Kuro will continue to become more developed and well defined characters as the story unfolds. I plan on creating 10 issues and each issue will deal with a new emotion or emotions that Tanpopo is meant to experience. The first book was an introduction of the story, and like Faust, she sells her soul to the devil. In return, he promises to be her companion and teach her to feel human emotion (which she is completely lacking).
In the second book, it is more about how Kuro tries to teach her sadness, and his lesson gets interrupted by the boys. At this point he has his moment of defending her (prelude to how he will begin to crack … to begin to view her as more than just a prize in his evil little game). I know it isn’t linear, or anywhere close to a standard way of storytelling, but I really want the reader to look at the images, read the words, and let the two things flow together and elicit an emotional response (in the reader). It is kind of like the original Faustian alchemy, and I want the reader to be transported into Tanpopo’s world through the poetry.
And its funny that you mention their own voice, because I do have plans to give the story its own voice eventually. For now, though, I want the poetry and literature I choose to guide me in drawing the story, and in creating it as I go along.
I’ll also soon have a Tanpopo website ready where everyone can get the context they need to experience Tanpopo to the fullest.
If you pick up the books again at any point, and get a new ‘take’ on them, let me know ^_^.
Great review! I’ve read the first volume, and I completely agree. I like the idea behind it, but I wish it were a little less jumbled together… and more finished looking.
Ah!
Water, water everywhere
And all the boards did shrink
Water, water everywhere
Nor any drop to drink!
Wonder if these strange little works will encourage people to check out the source material?