Songs of Our Ancestors

(NBM, 2002, 2004, 2005)
™ and © 2002 Patrick Atragan

As anyone who’s tried can attest, breaking into comics is a difficult, if not impossible, feat. So it’s remarkable when an unknown creator breaks in on his first try with a major publisher and yields a work so beautiful and so well-received that it gets nominated for one of comicdom’s top honors: an Eisner Award. Despite this, Atangan’s graphic novel has gone largely unnoticed by fans, which is a shame. Fans of traditional Japanese art (not manga) will find Atangan’s art breathtaking, as his work is evocative of a classic Japanese style known as ukiyo-e, where he utilizes simple layouts and flat colors combined with exquisite detail. Atangan’s stories are not completely his own but, rather, adaptations of two stories from Japanese folklore. The first is based on an ancient tale known as “The Fisherman and the Sea Princess,” in which a common man finds a beautiful woman at sea, only to lose her and embark on a quest to be reunited. The second is a shorter telling of another story in a similar vein; both are wonderfully crafted.

Even fans whose tastes don’t normally run toward traditional Asian styles might nonetheless marvel at the sheer beauty of this book.

— Jim Johnson

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Notes

Writer

Artist

#2 (Hardcover Edition)

Cover Price: $12.95
2 copies available from $9.00

Patrick Atangan

#3 (Hardcover Edition)

Cover Price: $12.95
2 copies available from $9.50

Patrick Atangan