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Black Is the Color
Black Is the Color begins with a 17th-century sailor abandoned at sea by his shipmates, and as it progresses he endures, and eventually succumbs to, both his lingering death sentence and the advances of a cruel and amorous mermaid. The narrative also explores the experiences of the loved ones he leaves behind, on his ship and at home on land, as well as of the mermaids who jadedly witness his destruction. At the heart of the story lie the dubious value of maintaining dignity to the detriment of intimacy, and the erotic potential of the worst-case scenario. Julie Gfrörer’s delicate drawing style perfectly complements the period era of Black Is the Color, bringing the lyricism and romanticism of Gfrörer’s prose to the fore. Black Is the Color is a book as seductive as the sirens it depicts.
72 pages, Paperback
First published December 20, 2013
4 people are currently reading
1023 people want to read
About the author
Julia Gfrörer
25 books123 followersJulia Gfrörer is an American cartoonist, graphic novelist, illustrator, and author. Her work is often transgressive, invoking occult themes within an ambience of subtly observed historicist concerns.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 127 reviews
June 22, 2017
This story takes place in the seventeenth century, things have gone all wrong on this sea voyage. There has been naught but trouble, with scant provisions left on board. Two of the newest crew members, Warren and Xavier , are selected to be put overboard in a life boat. Xavier soon dies.
So begins Julia Gfrörer’s graphic novel “Black is the Color”. As the story unfolds, we learn this is a kind of love story. We have lactating mermaids, gentle lovemaking, and wonderful storytelling, utilizing the great rhythm of the sea and the sky. It is never clear if the mermaids are real or hallucinated.
Isolation and emptiness abound in the telling of this story. One cannot help but take in the emotions of the situation and be drawn closer to the darkness that is death.
A story that will enthrall you and linger after its final panel.
So begins Julia Gfrörer’s graphic novel “Black is the Color”. As the story unfolds, we learn this is a kind of love story. We have lactating mermaids, gentle lovemaking, and wonderful storytelling, utilizing the great rhythm of the sea and the sky. It is never clear if the mermaids are real or hallucinated.
Isolation and emptiness abound in the telling of this story. One cannot help but take in the emotions of the situation and be drawn closer to the darkness that is death.
A story that will enthrall you and linger after its final panel.
October 15, 2024
Gfrorer says her name rhymes with "despair" and her "heart is black as a jet". She also says her book "is dedicated to Dylan, to Matthew, and to everyone who left me for dead." I guess that's where the black heart comes from, eh?
Her book is a beautifully, hauntingly rendered story, like an old sea tale, about a mermaid and a dying sailor, except the mermaids all talk as if they are contemporary twenty-something women, which is the only--but significantly not blackhearted--comic aspect of this tale. It's a kind of romance, black and white, dark, sort of melancholy. Haunting! Filled with mist and mystery, with appropriately sketchy black and white drawing. I liked it quite a bit!
Her book is a beautifully, hauntingly rendered story, like an old sea tale, about a mermaid and a dying sailor, except the mermaids all talk as if they are contemporary twenty-something women, which is the only--but significantly not blackhearted--comic aspect of this tale. It's a kind of romance, black and white, dark, sort of melancholy. Haunting! Filled with mist and mystery, with appropriately sketchy black and white drawing. I liked it quite a bit!
October 1, 2014
A sailor is abandoned at sea, left to die. A mermaid appears and the two share an intense, doomed romance as the sailor’s life dwindles away.
The sailor/mermaid story has been told and retold for centuries but writer/artist Julia Gfrorer gives it a twist by making her characters talk like 21st century people, though the book is set in the 17th century! The mermaids in particular talk like hipster musicians. During a storm, a small group of them gather to watch a ship sink from a distance, talking about the evening’s gig and other mermaids’ beard vanity. Later, a couple of them talk about laying down backing vocals while eating freshly killed lobster.
That approach helps the comic stand out as, without the unexpected modernity of the dialogue, it’d be a duller comic played straight. But, juxtaposed with the strangeness of everyday dialogue being spoken by mythical creatures, is the drama of the story – the real, slow death of the sailor, the cruel romance between him and the mermaid, and the melancholic longing of the sailor’s wife on land, waiting for her husband to return.
It’s an odd mix of tones throughout, switching from the frivolous to the serious, though it’s quite intentional – the shipwreck scene is representative of the book as a whole. Perhaps it’s a choice to make the fantastic seem more real, more accessible to the reader? Maybe it’s to signal that beneath the knowingness of the characters, there’s a belief in the genuine over the jaded, and the struggle between the two? I wasn’t entirely sure either way.
I really liked Gfrorer’s art style: simple black and white pages, sharp, strong inks, and a six-panel grid arrangement. The classic grid style is usually a move to focus the reader on the content of the comic rather than any particular stylistic approach, which certainly works here. Gfrorer also doesn’t rush her story, allowing panels to go by without dialogue, the same image appearing in one panel after another with slight changes, subtly moving things forward. The drawings themselves are very clean and realistic, utilising perspective very ably.
Black is the Color has its moments but in the end it’s an underwhelming comic. It feels a bit too disjointed and unfocused at times, and, while Gfrorer has talent, she doesn’t bring enough originality to the book – the ending especially feels very rote and predictable. It’s entertaining enough but its use of numerous silent panels and it’s brevity at 72 pages is why it’s a quick read rather than because the reader is excited to see how it will end. An average indie comic.
I read a physical copy of the book but it’s available to read for free online here: http://studygroupcomics.com/main/blac...
The sailor/mermaid story has been told and retold for centuries but writer/artist Julia Gfrorer gives it a twist by making her characters talk like 21st century people, though the book is set in the 17th century! The mermaids in particular talk like hipster musicians. During a storm, a small group of them gather to watch a ship sink from a distance, talking about the evening’s gig and other mermaids’ beard vanity. Later, a couple of them talk about laying down backing vocals while eating freshly killed lobster.
That approach helps the comic stand out as, without the unexpected modernity of the dialogue, it’d be a duller comic played straight. But, juxtaposed with the strangeness of everyday dialogue being spoken by mythical creatures, is the drama of the story – the real, slow death of the sailor, the cruel romance between him and the mermaid, and the melancholic longing of the sailor’s wife on land, waiting for her husband to return.
It’s an odd mix of tones throughout, switching from the frivolous to the serious, though it’s quite intentional – the shipwreck scene is representative of the book as a whole. Perhaps it’s a choice to make the fantastic seem more real, more accessible to the reader? Maybe it’s to signal that beneath the knowingness of the characters, there’s a belief in the genuine over the jaded, and the struggle between the two? I wasn’t entirely sure either way.
I really liked Gfrorer’s art style: simple black and white pages, sharp, strong inks, and a six-panel grid arrangement. The classic grid style is usually a move to focus the reader on the content of the comic rather than any particular stylistic approach, which certainly works here. Gfrorer also doesn’t rush her story, allowing panels to go by without dialogue, the same image appearing in one panel after another with slight changes, subtly moving things forward. The drawings themselves are very clean and realistic, utilising perspective very ably.
Black is the Color has its moments but in the end it’s an underwhelming comic. It feels a bit too disjointed and unfocused at times, and, while Gfrorer has talent, she doesn’t bring enough originality to the book – the ending especially feels very rote and predictable. It’s entertaining enough but its use of numerous silent panels and it’s brevity at 72 pages is why it’s a quick read rather than because the reader is excited to see how it will end. An average indie comic.
I read a physical copy of the book but it’s available to read for free online here: http://studygroupcomics.com/main/blac...
December 8, 2013
This is perhaps the best little comic I have read in years. There is a quality which was known to Longinus as sublimity, Arthur Machen called it ecstasy, I know it as mystery. This book is suffused with it. It is very short, taking no longer then a single sitting to read. The images and words found herein trace routes through the soul that are forbidden in polite society (as does all true poetry). The story blends perfectly the mythical and the wretched, the fantastic and the common. I cannot more highly recommend it.
July 26, 2015
An interesting short work, first appearing as a webcomic on Study Group Comics. The art has a straightforward yet slightly rough look, giving the comic the feel of a folk tale or old yarn. The artist's choice to work in a consistent six-panel page layout underscores this. I like the idea of mermaids that are contemporary sounding -- discussing music and asshole mermen boyfriends -- although that's not the direction this narrative takes. It's about a sailor cast out to sea and the slow process of his death...who just happens to encounter one of these mermaids.
7/24/15 - reread for recent webcomics episode: http://comicsalternative.com/webcomics8/.
7/24/15 - reread for recent webcomics episode: http://comicsalternative.com/webcomics8/.
June 18, 2017
I haven't read any comic book since reading Gaiman's highly acclaimed, quasi-literary series "Sandman" as a child. I enjoyed their complex construction so much, I was highly disappointed by the brevity and plainness of this comic. I, just like every other angsty teenager, adore themes like death and love and sex. However I felt that this book -just like every book written by Georges Bataille- exploits our teenager sensibilities about these themes. There was nothing particularly stupid in this book, but also nothing to praise either: it was just a short comic about a sailor dying after shortly flirting with a mermaid.
April 18, 2014
This was cool and weird, though not quite what I was expecting. A dying sailor meets mermaid tale. My favorite bit was the hipster mermaids underwater chatting about their latest music project. No joke. I could've read a whole other book of just the hipster mermaids hanging out. You can read the whole thing online here:
http://studygroupcomics.com/main/blac...
http://studygroupcomics.com/main/blac...
November 4, 2014
Creepy story of a sailor who is thrown off his ship after rations become too low. Really weird....
November 18, 2020
Vždy som si chcela prečítať niečo, kde budú morské panny debatovať ako hipsteri + romantický príbeh morskej panny a zomierajúceho týpka na člne. Oh wait, nechcela. Ale pobavilo. 2,5/5
Read
July 8, 2021i found Visions arresting and beautiful so I knew I had to read Gfrörer's other two available comics. this one concerns a sailer who is set adrift. at night a mermaid begins to visit him, although her intentions are unclear beyond the erotic. she probes him with deeply personal questions... in a fun, peculiar twist, the mermaids, when speaking amongst themselves, talk like you or i may do. they discuss making noise music projects, or catching shows. they are outside of the book's time frame, adrift in their own sort of metatextual way. Gfrörer's are is, as always, stunning to behold, the sharp, beautiful faces and the crumpled bodies and the complicated horror of the open see all portrayed beautifully. Two books into her ouvre now I can see a particular line around the erotic and the destruction that lies as a possibility at the end of it - but what makes Gfrörer smart is that this is not a bad thing. that desctruction... why does it have to be bad? sometimes it good to be destroyed. or want to be.
May 30, 2018
Technically not urban fantasy, but that fits better than regular fantasy because it is this world....but there are mermaids.
October 27, 2014
I was very excited for this to come out.
The artwork is really lovely, but I wasn't particularly impressed by the execution of the 'story," which is about a doomed love affair between a stranded sailor as he dies, and a mermaid. Sounds awesome, right? Something about the execution, though, that I can't quite put my finger on.
For whatever reason, as I was writing this, I thought I might want to check it out again. So I bumped it up from 2 stars to 3.
It was interesting, and I recommend it... as it's a very short read and beautiful art.
The artwork is really lovely, but I wasn't particularly impressed by the execution of the 'story," which is about a doomed love affair between a stranded sailor as he dies, and a mermaid. Sounds awesome, right? Something about the execution, though, that I can't quite put my finger on.
For whatever reason, as I was writing this, I thought I might want to check it out again. So I bumped it up from 2 stars to 3.
It was interesting, and I recommend it... as it's a very short read and beautiful art.
October 14, 2019
I love Gfrörer's work. It is always so beautiful and dark and interesting, but this is probably her best. It's haunting and lyrical and strange, but what makes this one stand apart is that it is also very, very, very funny. Normally when I read her work I'm ready to get sad, and this one has that in spades, but it also has some of the funniest scenes I've ever read, with an ending that is achingly beautiful.
January 9, 2014
I was interested to read this as it popped up on a "Great and unsung graphic novel works of 2013" list. This book seemed pretty pointless. Sailor adrift has sex with a mermaid, who watches him die and doesn't seem to care, then wanders off to help a friend sing backgrounds on an album. How did this win any accolades? It was a waste of time, but at least it was short for that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 7, 2018
This had moments. The artwork is original, and I like artists that use a non-standard style, but at times the execution is uneven and some of the images were confusing. It didn't bring a much new to the sailor mermaid story. They spoke in modern-day idioms, but I didn't see how this expanded the themes of the story in any way.
April 9, 2019
This isn't bad. It just falls short of what I think I wanted it to be.
November 7, 2020
Wasn’t much going on here, it was just morose.
February 3, 2022
There's nothing particularly wrong with this tale; it just didn't end up being the sort of story I like.
March 13, 2020
This is a story about a sailor deliverately left to die in the middle of the sea by his captain and crew, so that they can survive. The sailor drifts on a boat awaiting for his death and is frequented by a mermaid that falls in love with him while he slowly dies.
The illustrations are lovely, not too detailed yet delicate unfinished lines convey a certain macabre old timey etching look.
Other than my appreciation for the art style, the story is very superficial. It's a snapshot of a mermaid's romantic conquest. A mermaid's romance consists of swimming to the surface and teasing this beleaguered sailor and kissing him a lot. Then she goes down to her mermaid social gathering to discuss, work, projects and eating lobster. Its meaningless.
I wished for a more nuanced story about this type of romance. Especially in the language. It's a period story but reads like a teenager from today.
It reminds me of Shit Is Real. The story leaves you wanting more. However, I'm inspired to draw my own story.
The illustrations are lovely, not too detailed yet delicate unfinished lines convey a certain macabre old timey etching look.
Other than my appreciation for the art style, the story is very superficial. It's a snapshot of a mermaid's romantic conquest. A mermaid's romance consists of swimming to the surface and teasing this beleaguered sailor and kissing him a lot. Then she goes down to her mermaid social gathering to discuss, work, projects and eating lobster. Its meaningless.
I wished for a more nuanced story about this type of romance. Especially in the language. It's a period story but reads like a teenager from today.
It reminds me of Shit Is Real. The story leaves you wanting more. However, I'm inspired to draw my own story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 12, 2020
This is one of those indy comics that always seem to be just over my head in that I find myself missing some of what the creator is trying to accomplish. The art is a little primitive but with this type of story it's more about expression than line work, so the art fits. The story starts out fairly straightforward as two sailors are set adrift in the 17th century in order to save food for the other crew members. Then things get weird as mermaids turn up and we start to wonder what's real and what's imagined. The setting is really cool, and the overall vibe of the comic makes it very interesting.
There's a deeper story here that you can see on the surface, and it is an entertaining read.
There's a deeper story here that you can see on the surface, and it is an entertaining read.
December 16, 2018
Two men are cast adrift.
The story was pretty simple (as were the graphics) but it was still effective.
The story was pretty simple (as were the graphics) but it was still effective.
August 18, 2019
Fun, dark little story. Cynical and irreverent but also authentic. Excellent panel pacing.
August 10, 2020
Quirky utan att vara töntig. Så svag fyra får den nog.
August 12, 2020
This was a super quick read.
April 6, 2021
If this is what mermaids are actually like, I want to be one.
May 11, 2022
Oh, I loved these mermaids. This was so good. A bit hazy and messy in the storytelling style but that really worked for me.
January 1, 2023
i don't think i want to be a sailor anymore...
September 16, 2025
Non mais c'est vraiment trop bien, l'univers de cette autrice me rend dingue ! c'est super élégant, droit au but, et toujours gothique. j'en veux encore !
November 3, 2022
My review is at StoryGraph
Displaying 1 - 30 of 127 reviews