Isle of 100,000 Graves

by Fabien Vehlmann, Jason (Illustrator)

A treasure map leads to an island with a terrible secret in Jason’s new graphic novel. Five years ago, little Gwenny’s father found, inside a bottle, a map with instructions on how to reach the mysterious Isle of 100,000 Graves and its legendary treasures ― and then he vanished. Now Gwenny, having stumbled across another bottle-shipped map, enlists the dubious help of a shipful of pirates, sets out to find the island, and her long-lost dad.

Little does she realize that the Isle comes by its ominous name honestly, as the location of a secret school for executioners and torturers, where apple-cheeked youngsters are taught the finer points of extracting information from prisoners… and then putting an end to their lives in a wide variety of gruesome ways. And they’ve reached the point in their studies where theory should ideally give way to practice, so an influx of uninvited visitors comes as a blessing to the faculty.

And yes, this story is a comedy. Albeit a dark one.

For the first time in his career, Jason has enlisted a writer: Fabien Vehlmann. (Vehlmann has written a number of graphic novels for the French and American markets, including an installment of the legendary Spirou series and the three-volume Green Manor continuity, of which two volumes have been released in English.) Vehlmann has managed to interiorize Jason’s deadpan style and wit perfectly, creating a uniquely smooth and successful collaboration. 56 pages of full-color comics

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Adventure, Fantasy, Humor

56 pages, Paperback

First published January 19, 2011

About the author

Usually uses the pseudonym Vehlmann

Fabien Vehlmann est comme son héros : pétillant, engagé et plein d'humour.

Après avoir patiemment suivi les cours d'une école de commerce nantaise, Fabien Vehlmann réalise que sa voie est ailleurs. Bien décidé à se lancer dans la bande dessinée, il se consacre à l'écriture de manière intensive durant une année entière. Il empile les projets et inonde scrupuleusement la rédaction du journal Spirou. Sa ténacité est récompensée : il y fait ses débuts dans le courant de l'année 1998. Dans les pages du beau journal, il apprend son métier en scénarisant des animations, puis ses premières séries dont le fameux "Green Manor" avec Denis Bodart.

Curieux et enthousiaste, Vehlmann touche à tous les genres : humour, science-fiction, aventure, conte,... Il multiplie les collaborations avec des dessinateurs aux styles aussi divers que Matthieu Bonhomme ("Le Marquis d'Anaon"), Frantz Duchazeau ("Les Cinq conteurs de Bagdad") ou Bruno Gazzotti ("Seuls"). En 2006, il réalise une première aventure de Spirou et Fantasio avec Yoann : "Les Géants Pétrifiés". Quatre ans plus tard, les deux compères reprennent en main la destinée du plus célèbre héros des Editions Dupuis...

Les albums de Spirou qu'il emmènerait sur une île déserte : Le Nid des Marsupilamis, Le Voyageur du Mésozoïque et Virus.

Source: http://www.dupuis.com/catalogue/FR/au...

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 5 out of 5]

My second to last reread of what seems currently available to me in Jason books, this one unique in that the writer is Fabien Vehlmann. Jason has adapted (or twisted) others's stories, but this one is a rare collaboration between Jason and another comics artist. This is a pirate story, focused on Gwenny, who finds a treasure map in a bottle and wants to outsmart some pirates to get them to help her get to an island where she can look for her long-missing father, who took off to look for treasure on The Isle of 100,000 Graves. Adventure and humor follows. Jason and Vehlmann both love and parody pirate tales.

I have to credit Kim Thompson, for what is maybe the first time in one of these reviews, for translating these tales so wonderfully. And to Hubert, for the great coloring in so many of Jason's books. And Fantagraphics, for making Jason a name in "the states".

Is this the best of his works? I don't think so, probably, but I love all of it, so sometimes I just have to 5 star almost all of them, the hell with the fine distinctions. He's a master. So much fun.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in Pirate Times, Gwenny’s pop went a-sailing to find the legendary treasure of the Isle of 100,000 graves but never returned. Then Gwenny finds a map to the island in a bottle and joins a swashbuckling crew of pirates to find out what happened to him. But what she discovers is something completely unexpected…

Jason is one of my favourite cartoonists and coupled with a great writer like Fabien Vehlmann you get a magnificent book like Isle of 100,000 Graves. Jason’s best known for his silent or sparsely-written comics so Vehlmann’s inclusion is why the book has more dialogue than usual. But Jason shows he is an able adaptor of other people’s scripts with this comic.

Vehlmann’s clever and humorous writing suits Jason’s deadpan storytelling style so well that this is one of the most perfect collaborations I’ve ever read. Gwenny’s a plucky heroine in the style of True Grit’s Mattie Ross and uses her intelligence to outwit her abusive mother, con a pirate crew to take her where she wants, and blackmail a pirate into being her bodyguard. She’s a brilliant protagonist.

I won’t go into what’s on the Isle of 100,000 Graves or what happened to Gwenny’s father, partly not to spoil any readers who haven’t had the pleasure to find out for themselves yet, but also because this review would just be full of gushing praise about this scene or that scene and that character, etc. It’d be praise overload without really adding anything you’d get from the experience of reading the story for yourself.

Suffice it to say that this is a highly enjoyable quality comic that anyone looking for an amusing and inventive story will really like. I’ve read this three times now and it always impresses me.

I recommend checking out Jason’s other books too - I honestly think he might be the best living cartoonist in the world - but Fabien Vehlmann’s books are terrific too. His Green Manor series is a must-read for Agatha Christie fans and his 7 Psychopaths book does the Suicide Squad concept better than any Suicide Squad comic I’ve come across (Sean Phillips also draws it!). But if you read just one of his, Isle of 100,000 Graves is the best!

[Fuchsia Groan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hacía tiempo que tenía ganas de leer este cómic, un poco por ver cómo sería el dibujo de Jason con el guión de Vehlmann (a quien no conozco), y es curioso, porque he notado pocas diferencias y casi podría haberla escrito y dibujado Jason en solitario. Quizás Vehlmann tenga un estilo similar, no lo sé.

Aunque en un primer momento recuerda sin duda a La isla del tesoro, pronto toma otro rumbo, mezclando numerosos géneros, como es habitual en Jason.

El humor en este es mucho más acentuado que en sus otras obras, más directo, menos sutil, con muchos chistes y humor absurdo. Muy divertida. Llena de giros y de humor negro, con una buena dosis de ironía y surrealismo, creo que es menos profundo, dejando un poco de lado ese vacío existencial y melancolía de los personajes.

Me quedo con sus obras en solitario, aunque esta la he disfrutado mucho también.

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quirky little book filled with deadpan, gallows humor. Gwenny finds a treasure map in a bottle and talks some pirates into taking her on a hunt for the treasure while looking for her Dad who found a similar map 5 years ago. What they find on the island is much different. Often humorous with a dry wit aged like a fine wine.

[Larnacouer de SH · Rating 3 out of 5]

SA, bi' süre ana sayfanızda Isle of 100,000 Graves gibi grafik romanlarla belireceğim çünkü kendi çapımda Jason maratonu yapmaya karar verdim, bu süre zarfında güncellemelerimle sizi darlayacağım için şimdiden özr dlrm.
Bu şekil halka sesleniş yapıyordum fakat Eskişehirli değilmişim ve siz tüm arkadaşlarım Amerikan yerlisiymiş gibi kalkıp yorumumu İngilicce yapmışım, ne diyebilirim ki? Neyse, İngilicce basın açıklamam da dursun burada, emek verdik o kadar arada okur gülerim.
Bilginize sunarım, sundum hadi aeo, selametle.

As some of you (bookstagrammers in particular), might know I've decided to start on my own marathon to read corpus of Jason's. That was my second stop. Sorry for all spam these updates will likely continue until the end of the year. I'll leave most of them without comment unless i like (or hate) them a lot! So during this little marathon hoping that you guys wouldn't feel sick about my updates on your feed or whatever. LMAO.

[Hannah Cassie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely hilarious! Loving these graphic novels!

[Titus · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s something about Jason’s artwork that I find exceptionally pleasing. His inimitable anthropomorphic ligne claire style and his subtle, understated visual storytelling just appeal to me hugely. Coupled with gorgeous colouring by the late Hubert Boulard, Isle of 100,000 Graves looks simply wonderful. Especially when printed at full Franco-Belgian album size (as at least my French edition from Glénat is), it's an absolute delight to behold.

What's more, the story here is no less delightful than the artwork. There's a degree of depth and sophistication to it, but first and foremost it's pure entertainment: an absurd, light-hearted pirate comedy, it's high in excitement and hilarity, and most importantly it's full of surprises. It feels almost like it could be made for kids, though it's never juvenile, and the darkness of the humour, the subtlety of the storytelling and the gut-punch ending suggest that adults are probably the intended audience.

At 54 pages, this is a short comic, but its brevity is in no way a weakness. Indeed, it achieves a kind of perfection that's only possible for shorter works. It feels like Jason and Vehlmann took what could've been an epic and boiled it down until all that was left was unadulterated brilliance; every panel is a pleasure.

[Allie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boy howdy, I love Jason. This story centers on a plucky little lady, Gwenny, looking for her father. He disappeared while looking for treasure on the titular Isle of 100,000 Graves. She finds a map in a bottle, finds a crew to take her there, and uses her crafty intelligence to get to the island. Gwinny reminds me of like Veronica Mars, if Veronica Mars was a terse, Scandinavian cat. Additionally, the school she finds on the island is super funny to me, but I don't want to spoil it.

[Dávid Novotný · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well that was something! Dark, funny even absurd at some point. Probably not for everybody, but I enyojed every single page.

[Zai Zai · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the mc to be extremely likeable... her guile (how it is shown, described etc) was downplayed so effectively that when it works, its just sooo satisfying... I dont know if I could've worded that description better lol

[Ed Erwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short fantasy with dark humor. While the story isn't as dark as some other things written by Fabien Vehlmann, it is still much darker than the innocent-looking cartoon images by Jason might suggest.

[Brian Dickerson · Rating 4 out of 5]

BCDER: 88

Jason knocks it out of the park yet again, but this time with the help of the richly talented Fabian Vehlmann. I liked seeing a Jason product with more dialogue than usual. The story is typical of what we’ve come to expect from Jason with a bit of crime noir and a twist near the end. The flat coloring by Hubert is also great per usual.

Jason does more with 50 pages or less than anyone else I read.

[CG. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept of an island full of a medieval executioner society is admittedly hilarious. I thought the ending was strange, a little unfulfilling, but it was one that I appreciate more as time passes...
I wish we got some more answers to clarify certain things and events though.

(Specifically when it comes to the secret our pirate guide holds, I kept thinking: "Are you really going to blue ball me like this???").

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't even think I can be critical anymore. I'm just a fanboy--everything Jason puts his hand to is great!! Having a different writer on board was a nice change of pace, though Vehlmann's style meshes really well with Jason's. Great stuff!! I particularly liked the ending--a little less abrupt perhaps than the usual for Jason.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing and awesome. Much of everything great about Jason's solo work is here with the sadistic charm of Vehlmann. It felt like the two perfectly melded on this joint. Loved it. One minor drawback...I felt like it didn't have that moment of honest humanity that Jason's solo work tends to find. It just wasn't there. But, other than that, it's a fantastically fun read.

[Meem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jason delivers pitch-perfect noir every time. Every work of his is a monument to minimalism. You are a treasure map inside a bottle, you beautiful Norwegian, and I'd be a willing prisoner in your island.

[Devin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story of a little girl searching for her missing father on a remote island.

This book was fun, but not memorable. Honestly, I won’t remember much of this within a few hours.

Recommended for Jason fans.

Everyone else? I’d skip

[Hafeez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Execution Academy that teach people how to execute people.

[Valéria. · Rating 5 out of 5]

What the fuck?
Also, I loved it.

[Murat · Rating 3 out of 5]

tr. 100.000 mezar adası..

[Jeremy Stephens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three letters summarize my reaction to everything about this graphic novel-wtf. I have been reviewing books here on the goodreads site for three years now and thus far this was by far the hardest book to give a rating for.
What I liked about this book was that the style of writing and artwork was that difficult to describe weirdness that independent comics seem to have. I also liked the satirical nature of the plot- it was a piratical island adventure story filled with melodramatic characters, unrealistic conflict and a superbly anti-climatic ending which is completely the opposite of what one normally expects when reading such a story.
What I didn't like was the childish manner in which it was written and some of the problems related to formatting. In several places some of the text was cut out of the panels which made it difficult to figure out what was going on. To be fair though, the amateurish way the writing seems can be excused if one imagines they are fourteen years old while they read it. Seriously, I would have thought this was the greatest thing ever written if I had read this when I was in the 8th grade. This makes me think that perhaps that was the intended audience all along (even though it wasn't in the young adult section of my local library) or perhaps one has to read this expecting sheer stupidity to appreciate it's greatness.
I spent a long time trying to decide how many stars to rate this. After reading it I almost went insane from trying to decide if I loved it or hated it. In the end, I decided that since the Isle of 100,000 Graves is so stupid that it's cool, i'd give it a middle of the road score of three stars.

[Miguel Jiménez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Si se creía que no había alguien con un estilo similar a Jason, se estaba en un error. Jason es único, no hay duda, pero Vellman complementa y queda muy bien en la —ya de por sí— especial narrativa gráfica de Jason. El guionista mantiene esa ternura hacia los personajes, así como el humor absurdo e irreverente. Aunque Vellman lo hace con más desenfado(el humor es mucho más marcado). Creo que por eso hay un "exceso" en los chistes, en repetir la fórmula de lo gracioso o incluso el chiste mismo. Algo en lo que creo, Jason es más sensato.

Fuera del detalle mencionado, la obra es muy disfrutable, en la que hay humor del bueno(absurdo-tonto -paródico), con constante alegría y singularidad —como historia, como obra, como objeto—.

[Tif · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple story about a clever girl who hires a pirate crew with the lure of map promising a massive, legendary treasure, in the hopes of finding her father whom went missing years before on an island occupied by career executioners-in-training. It was a strange story to read in that it got right to the point and made me wonder what kind of short tale I had gotten myself into, but it developed into quite a fun, cheeky read. And when I came to this line of dialog in the story,

"A time-saver, to be sure, but... I don't know... When you start killing in batches, I wonder what remains of the nobility of our calling..."

I knew I was reading something special.

[Dustyloup · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well I gave "Dieu qui pue, Dieu qui pète" 4* si I have to give this three. It's much snappier, a quicker read, very quirky. More in the vein of Spirou than Vehlmann's fables (5 conteurs de Baghdad).

The characters are weak, unlikeable human beings and that's their charm and what makes them a little more complex than they seem at first. I liked and didn't like the unclear ending...
I didn't like Jason's art at first but it grew on me. I probably have avoided picking up his stuff before. Now I'll give him another go.

[Rick Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the simplicity of Jason's style, you literally cannot name a genre that he's not capable of pulling off effectively. In Isle of 100,000 Graves we see Jason collaborating with Fabien Vehlmann to deliver a fantastic pirate adventure story. The script is whip-smart and hilarious, delivered in the dry wit found in any Jason comic. The art is bare but effective, delivering the witty story in the most efficient manner possible. Truly one of the comics that will continue to be enjoyable no matter how many times I return to it.

[Zaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was fun. The story didn't look interesting at first, but soon there were pirates and other creepy bad characters. I liked that the main characters were smart kids and how the setting was really unusual. The art worked well as in other books by this author with the animal-humans and it was a nice way to tell the story in pictures.

[Przemysław Skoczyński · Rating 3 out of 5]

To trochę inna historia niż komiksy tworzone przez Jasona solo, trochę inne poczucie humoru, trochę mniej dziwnych zwrotów akcji (dziwnie jest, ale raczej w kontekście całości niż poszczególnych scen). Nadal jest to jednak zabawa konwencjami, która powinna w pełni zadowolić fanów twórczości Norwega.

[Zack! Empire · Rating 5 out of 5]

my favorite book so far by Jason, altough he didn't do this one alone, so i'm not sure if you can count it as a Jason book. The hangman's academy stuff was very funny. It was just really enjoyable, and a nice break from all the horror and superhero stuff i've been reading.

[Pustulio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lo mismo, bien raro el muchacho.

[Ill D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun