Jacob Bladders and the State of the Art

by Roman Muradov

Jacob illustrator, braggart, and victim of assault by thugs sent by the mysterious Charlie. Part satire of commercial art, part noirish detective story, part puzzle to be solved or left in pieces. Roman Muradov's latest is an ink-smeared Blakean vision of 1940s New York where Twitter exists as a network of pneumatic tubes, but artwork is still delivered by hand. Roman Muradov was born in Moscow, Russia. He now resides in San Francisco, California. As an illustrator he has worked for  Vogue , Random House , the New Yorker , the New York Times , and Penguin. In 2013, Muradov received a Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators. His first book, ( In a Sense ) Lost and Found , was published last year by Nobrow Press.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Comix

64 pages, Hardcover

First published May 10, 2016

Reviews

[Jonathan Bogart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roman Muradov's postmodern Modernist comics have been one of the few entirely new pleasures I've encountered in artcomics over the past few years: his combination of highbrow midcentury illustration, Cubist-era abstraction, and Joycean language play are so exactly the kinds of comics I'd want to make if I had a tenth of his graphic brio, that I can't help feeling a little unsettled by them, as if I'd come across a notebook where a stranger had been making sketches from my dreams.

2016's Jacob Bladders is an advance on 2014's In a Sense, in that the black-and-white artwork is even more lusciously austere and the relentless punning is given more of a narrative drive. The story is still nothing much: an illustrator has his work stolen from him in a déco-noir alternate 1947, and people argue as endlessly and irrelevantly as on Twitter -- which Muradov underscores by constantly referencing an early version of the social-media service that works more or less like a stock ticker. Intentionally elliptical (William Blake is the other major reference figure) and satirical, it remains a slight work, but deeply satisfying anyway.

(It's perhaps worth noting for the record that I've owned this book for nearly a year, but until I started digging a pile of comics I'd bought and neglected to get around to reading I had forgotten purchasing it, to the extent that I've had it on an Amazon wishlist for months. Which is why I'm going to try to catch up on some of that reading this winter.)

[Lucas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This man is my new obsession... As per usual, the story's not quite the focus of the piece. This one is set in analternate history late 1940s New York, where a newspaper illustrator gets mugged on his way to deliver some art for the next day's paper. Panic ensues and a conspiracy gets uncovered. It's very disjointed and kind of hard to follow, as is often the case with his stuff. And yet I just can't get enough of him. His art is always different and always gorgeous. Here's he's working in a very washy black and white to fit the neo-noir vibe

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to follow at times and heavy handed but simply beautiful! The characters are very similarly drawn so very hard to follow or access in the first read, but after reading the glossary and bio it came together for me in the second. I've never read anything like this before and had trouble separating fact from fiction but that was part of the fun.

[Kaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

An explosive blend of noir/chiaroscuro and mid-century modern that moves the shadows of noir into the realm of illustration. The story plays heavier into melodrama than mystery, but the spellbinding surrealism of Muradov’s art and satire forgive the brisk jog of his plot and foreseeable revelation. Glad I bought this.

[Joel Cuthbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roman’s usuall absurd creativity is churning at all cylinders. Of course we will all complain about how dark the print is and how difficult it is to completely make out the narrative because of it. But who cares. Any work from this man is a gift.

[Sergey Kruk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very beautiful noir-stiled story.

[Claire · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have no idea what I just read.

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

The overly noir-ish style did make this book a little difficult to decipher at times, but I applaud Roman Muradov's endless creativity with Jacob Ladders. The satire toes the line of heavy handed and subtle a little awkwardly, but when it works it's really sharp. I was drawn in by the heaps of absurdism, though I do wish I was able to connect with the story a bit more.

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful and original. Full of artistic richness and intrigue. I don't think I've read anything as interestingly created (thumb and ink) with the exception of Peter Kuper's spray painted creations.Uncivilized Books.

[Emilia]

This is probably brilliant, but even if it isn't, the art is beautiful.