Jinchalo by Matthew Forsythe [Review]

Info: Title: Jinchalo Author: Matthew Forsythe Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly ISBN: 978 Rating: [xrrgroup][xrr label="Characters:" rating="5/6" group="s1" ] [xrr label="Plot:" rating="3/6" group="s1"] [xrr label="Storytelling:" rating="3/6" group="s1"] [xrr label="Artwork:" rating="6/6" group="s1"] [xrr label="Just One More Page:" rating="4.5/6" group="s1"] [xrr label="Overall:" overall=true group="s1" ][/xrrgroup]

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Drawn & Quarterly, (like :01 (FirstSecond)) just seem to put as much effort into making all their releases look and feel wonderful, as artists and authors do with the content. Jinchalo by Matthew Forsythe is no different. Printed in two colour on a heavy cream paper, it looks gorgeous!

And it is as hypnotic, surreal, and ever so slightly weird as I was hoping it would be. But, I feel the story telling let the book down somewhat.

In a book with no ‘text’ the reader is always going to have to do some of the interpretation themselves, but for me, the reasons for what was happening in each ‘scene’ wasn’t always clear, nor were the transitions between them, I suspect it’s partway deliberate, to create a dream-like feeling to the story.

Your milage may vary of course, as everyone will ‘read’ the book slightly differently.

I really loved the scene where the little girl calls a ‘time-out’ and drags the artist into the page to correct something she doesn’t like. And I do like the little girl, she’s a very charismatic lead character.

Even though, I had issues with the story, I have no issues with the artwork. It’s gorgeous, with wonderful little details, which alone makes Jinchalo by Matthew Forsythe, definitely worth your while getting hold of.

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Jinchalo is Korean for “Really?” and that question (formulated variously as “What is and what isn’t?” “What is real?” and “What is imagined?”) is at the heart of this book. A companion to Matthew Forsythe’s vastly successful Ojingogo, Jinchalo stars the same little girl as its heroine. When Jinchalo lands them in some hot water, the pair is forced to flee the safety of their home. In the course of their flight, they visit a robot garden, follow a vine into the clouds, and leave their village far, far behind.

These comics are firmly rooted in Korean folktales and stylistic conventions, with a playful, joyously drawn line. Jinchalo welcomes readers back into Forsythe’s Miyazaki-tinged dreamscape, where spotted octopi fly and bears give piggyback rides, where hummingbirds are larger than people, and a sad furry monster wearing a bowler hat lurks around every corner. Forsythe uses page space innovatively in this wordless panel-less book. Both simple and intricately detailed, his storytelling is compelling for all ages.

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Buy: Jinchalo by Matthew Forsythe