White Volvo

by Erik Svetoft

Genres: Graphic Novels

336 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication January 19, 2027

Reviews

[Stephen Reyes-Lawson]

I didn't know that this was the Spa creator until the art started looking super familiar after a while. I really liked Spa, so that was a nice surprise. This is definitely a lot more confusing than that book. I couldn't even begin to tell you what it's about. There are definitely assassinations, but thats all I know for sure. I have to assume a lot of this is metaphor, but I have no idea what for. The synopsis talks about it being a giallo, but it's mostly just a bunch of seemingly random incidents strung together by a dear monster of some sort. I'm going to go ahead and bump up my review from 3 stars to 4 because of the art, though. I loved this style in Spa, and I love it here too. It's so creative. This guy knows how to draw spooky body horror creatures better than most. I did like it overall, but I'm definitely going to be on the lookout for an explanation on reddit or something.

[Zaidee]

White Volvo is absolutely bonkers, with the eerie and bizarre butting up against the mundane. I really enjoyed the contrast of simple linework in dusty blue alongside the very intricate and swirling details of unusual elements and creatures. The sword iconography, panels with mirrored layouts and weird entities had me thinking about how good this is going to look in print. While I anticipated something creepy or sinister, I was surprised by how frequently there were more alien aspects of the story, which made for very interesting dynamics between the mysterious characters. I never quite understood what was actually going on, but was fully along for the ride thanks to the fantastic imagery and the strangely engaging humor throughout.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Fantagraphics for the digital ARC!

[Kaycee McKee]

This was an interesting and incredibly strange graphic novel. The biggest standout for me was definitely the horror artwork. The illustrations are wonderfully detailed while also being horribly graphic, and I absolutely loved the way the disturbing imagery was brought to life. As for the story itself though, this book feels a bit like an acid trip gone horribly wrong. Things become increasingly bizarre and surreal, and I wasn’t always sure what exactly was happening, but the sheer weirdness and fantastic artwork still made for a good reading experience.

[Cornell]

Definitely more to my liking than "Spa". Same type of deranged weirdness but somehow both more and less consistent. Felt like there was more of a plot here, even if not much got resolved. Great characters. The bodyguard guy! The special commando led by a guy obsessed with tanning! Bizarre manimals! All the swords and egg references! It's like a part of your brain got unglued whilst you were trying to solve a mystery. And by the end the mystery is solved. Or not. Doesn't really matter, at least the ride was wild.

[Daniel]

Thank you to NetGalley and Fantagraphics Books for this e-ARC. I really wanted to like this book more than I did, but in all honesty I have no idea what was going on. I typically enjoy graphic novels for their use of imagery especially when text is not needed, but this book would have been more understandable with more text. I like the graphics,especially the honorific elements, however, I often could not keep track of which characters which and what their allegiances/motivations were. Sadly this book was lost on me.

[doowopapocalypse]

Svetoft crafts an unsettling story that wouldn't be out of place in Cronenberg's oeuvre.