All those years ago when I first started reading comics, I found a strange little book tucked away in the back of my local comic shop published by a company I had never heard of. The book was "Boneyard" by Richard Moore, and the publisher was NBM. Fast forward in time to when I started writing this column and I start receiving review copies of books from the same company, something which I have come to value over the years more than almost anything else that has come from my writing of this column.
If you walk into a comic shop odds are you won't see a book published by NBM up on the new arrivals wall, but if you dig into their graphic novels section or explore the same section at your local bookstore you might find a hidden gem brought to you from an author trying the new and unusual or telling a very special story. Most often, someone from outside the U.S. is presenting their tale in comic book form for readers across the world and presented by NBM.
Most recently a slim volume showed up at my doorstep entitled "The Lighthouse" by Paco Roca, an up and coming Spanish author. Taking place during the Spanish Civil War, "The Lighthouse" tells the story of a young soldier fleeing the brutal conflict who finds his way to a lonely lighthouse and its lonely keeper. After nursing the young man to health, the keeper sets about repairing his spirit as well, all the while filling his head with tales of a mysterious island just over the horizon. The two grow close as they explore the shore and retrieve treasures washed up by the frequent storms and build a small boat they will use to one day travel to the fabled island paradise.
This seems like a simple tale as described above and it it could be seen that way, but in truth Roca's story is a dense and multilayered piece that provokes reflection upon completion. The ending leaves a bittersweet impact and blossoms with realized emotional import as the final page passes by the reader and the young man sails away.
The simple but not simplistic art and two tone coloration of the volume does not overwhelm or distract the reader, instead we are led to appreciate the details of the story and the simple life the lighthouse keeper lives. The black and white and blue tones of the story reflect the black and white world the young soldier has fled from while the lighthouse keeper presents him with a many hued interpretation of the world and the life he has led.
Like many of the volumes I receive from NBM, "The Lighthouse" is a piece that has made its way through the book stores of Europe and found its way to American shores. It offers us the valuable experience of seeing a world and experiencing a story from beyond our borders, just as the old lighthouse keeper offers to the young soldier looking to start his life over again far from the chaos and conflict of his homeland. Paco Roca's "The Lighthouse" will be available this month through www.nbmpub.com, major booksellers, and anywhere e-books are sold.
EDITOR'S NOTE: WILLIAM KULESA can be reached at jjournalcomicbox@gmail.com.
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