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Brooklyn Dreams #1-4
Brooklyn Dreams
Vincent Carl Santini, now in his forties, looks back to his 1970-71 senior year at a Brooklyn high school which featured a guardian angel in the form of a stray dog, his Italian mother and Jewish father, his best friend Shane, and an encounter with law enforcement.
384 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2003
12 people are currently reading
260 people want to read
About the author
J.M. DeMatteis
1,908 books231 followersAlso Credited As:
DeMatteis, John Marc
Ellis, Michael
Lombego, Wally
Bio:
J.M. DeMatteis was a professional musician/singer and rock music journalist before entering comics in the late 70's.
Credits include Spider-Man, Moonshadow, Brooklyn Dreams, Justice League, Abadazad, Hero Squared, the Life and Times of Savior 28.
Created I, Vampire , Creature Commandos, Moonshadow, Hero Squared (co-creator), Abadazad, Stardust Kid, Savior 28 and more.
DeMatteis, John Marc
Ellis, Michael
Lombego, Wally
Bio:
J.M. DeMatteis was a professional musician/singer and rock music journalist before entering comics in the late 70's.
Credits include Spider-Man, Moonshadow, Brooklyn Dreams, Justice League, Abadazad, Hero Squared, the Life and Times of Savior 28.
Created I, Vampire , Creature Commandos, Moonshadow, Hero Squared (co-creator), Abadazad, Stardust Kid, Savior 28 and more.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
November 21, 2023
Moby Dick romanında anlatıcımız "Bana İsmail deyin." diyerek tam olarak kestiremediğimiz bir pozisyon ve durumda bize koca bir hikayeyi anlatıyordu. Adı gerçekten İsmail miydi, gerçekten o gemide miydi, Herman Melville neden kitabı aktarmak için İsmail'e ihtiyaç duymuştu?
Brooklyn düşlerinde de çok benzer bir şey yaşanıyor.
Kitap, yazar J. M. Dematteis'in yarattığı hayali karakterimiz Vincent Carl Santini'nin lise son sınıfta başından geçenleri anlatmak istemesi ile başlıyor. Anlatmak istemesi diyorum çünkü kitabın hiç bir noktasında tam olarak başından geçen bir olayı anlatmıyor.
Kitapta anlatılan olayları kitabı okuyan hemen hemen herkes gibi yazarının kişisel öyküleri olarak düşünebilirsiniz. Ama değil, çünkü yazarımızın adı Vincent Carl Santini değil. Zaten yazar kitabın gerçekliği ile ilgili henüz kitabın daha ilk 5 sayfasında gerekli açıklamayı yapıyor:
"Ben 'gerçekten yaşanmış hikaye' diye bir şey olduğuna pek de inanmıyorum. Algının sınırları vardır. Bellek kusurludur. Şahsi fikrim, kelimeleri ağzımızdan çıkardığımız anda, aktarmaya çalıştığımız gerçeklerden bütünüyle farklı bir şey ortaya çıkardığımız yönünde.
(...)
O yüzden sana gerçeklerden daha düzgün yalanlar anlatacağım."
Siyah bir arka plan üzerinde koltukta oturan ve daha sonraları 35 yaşında olduğunu öğrendiğimiz karakterimiz, sürekli olarak bir bilgi ve olay bombardımana tutuyor bizi. Her şeyi algılamamız bir önceki duruma ya da kişiye bağlı Vincent'a göre.
Bir noktada fark ediyoruz ki Vincent aslında bir terapide. Ve tüm bunlar terapide anlattıkları. Ve biz aslında bir terapist pozisyonundayız. Fark ediyorum dediğime de bakmayın. Terapi kısmını bize bizzat Vincent söylüyor. Diğer her şeyi söylediği gibi.
Anlatım ve üslup olarak sanırım bugüne kadar kendime en yakın bulduğum çizgi roman Brooklyn Düşleri oldu. Kitabın çizim tarzı, panel yerleşimi ve panel çizgi farklılıkları büyük bir ustalıkla ayarlanmış. Vincent'ın "gerçek" halini gördüğümüzde, yani terapide onun karşısında otururken onu daha gerçekçi, karamsar bir suluboya çizgisinde görüyoruz. Fakat anılarına girdiğimizde ise çizim daha "comic" formatına dönüşüyor. Çizerin bunu çoğu zaman iç içe kullanma konusundaki ustalığına hayran kalıyorsunuz.
Kitabın üslubunu o kadar sevdim ki bazen durup nefes almak, sindirmek ve öyle devam etmek istedim. Kahkaha attığım, yutkunamadığım, yüzleşemediğim yerleri oldu.
Sert bir kara mizah anlatısı olarak görülebilir.
Çok başarılı.
Brooklyn düşlerinde de çok benzer bir şey yaşanıyor.
Kitap, yazar J. M. Dematteis'in yarattığı hayali karakterimiz Vincent Carl Santini'nin lise son sınıfta başından geçenleri anlatmak istemesi ile başlıyor. Anlatmak istemesi diyorum çünkü kitabın hiç bir noktasında tam olarak başından geçen bir olayı anlatmıyor.
Kitapta anlatılan olayları kitabı okuyan hemen hemen herkes gibi yazarının kişisel öyküleri olarak düşünebilirsiniz. Ama değil, çünkü yazarımızın adı Vincent Carl Santini değil. Zaten yazar kitabın gerçekliği ile ilgili henüz kitabın daha ilk 5 sayfasında gerekli açıklamayı yapıyor:
"Ben 'gerçekten yaşanmış hikaye' diye bir şey olduğuna pek de inanmıyorum. Algının sınırları vardır. Bellek kusurludur. Şahsi fikrim, kelimeleri ağzımızdan çıkardığımız anda, aktarmaya çalıştığımız gerçeklerden bütünüyle farklı bir şey ortaya çıkardığımız yönünde.
(...)
O yüzden sana gerçeklerden daha düzgün yalanlar anlatacağım."
Siyah bir arka plan üzerinde koltukta oturan ve daha sonraları 35 yaşında olduğunu öğrendiğimiz karakterimiz, sürekli olarak bir bilgi ve olay bombardımana tutuyor bizi. Her şeyi algılamamız bir önceki duruma ya da kişiye bağlı Vincent'a göre.
Bir noktada fark ediyoruz ki Vincent aslında bir terapide. Ve tüm bunlar terapide anlattıkları. Ve biz aslında bir terapist pozisyonundayız. Fark ediyorum dediğime de bakmayın. Terapi kısmını bize bizzat Vincent söylüyor. Diğer her şeyi söylediği gibi.
Anlatım ve üslup olarak sanırım bugüne kadar kendime en yakın bulduğum çizgi roman Brooklyn Düşleri oldu. Kitabın çizim tarzı, panel yerleşimi ve panel çizgi farklılıkları büyük bir ustalıkla ayarlanmış. Vincent'ın "gerçek" halini gördüğümüzde, yani terapide onun karşısında otururken onu daha gerçekçi, karamsar bir suluboya çizgisinde görüyoruz. Fakat anılarına girdiğimizde ise çizim daha "comic" formatına dönüşüyor. Çizerin bunu çoğu zaman iç içe kullanma konusundaki ustalığına hayran kalıyorsunuz.
Kitabın üslubunu o kadar sevdim ki bazen durup nefes almak, sindirmek ve öyle devam etmek istedim. Kahkaha attığım, yutkunamadığım, yüzleşemediğim yerleri oldu.
Sert bir kara mizah anlatısı olarak görülebilir.
Çok başarılı.
December 28, 2022
Have you watched a Netflix animated tv show called "F for Family" ? This feels a bit similar to it, had F for Family been told from the teenage son's point of view, minus the silly humour that the tv show had from time to time.
The narrator takes us through some events that left a big impact on his life and the details around them, such as him adopting a dog only to be forced to abandon him a couple of days later (whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy) the difficult relationship with his father, him being raised by a Catholic father and a Jewish mother and the whole conflict that this caused, his sexual awakening, him falling in love with literature and writing, death and finding meaning in life.
It's not a bad book by any means.
In fact, it's an enjoyable one, with a nice artistic style that changes to suit the mood of the narration, the timeline that we follow, or when we're inside one of the narrator's fantasies.
It does a decent job at presenting some events that changed the narrator's life, with him looking back at them as an adult.
But then again, it doesn't come without its flaws.
Which in this case, mainly revolve around it being a bit too wordy for my liking.
By that, I actually mean that it has a habit of dragging the stories on and on by adding several details from his life into them, and when it goes back to narrating the main one, it is possible for the reader to get a little lost.
The rest of the flaws, lie to the narrator/author coming off as an unlikeable protagonist (which fair enough, he's a teenage boy for the best part of it, so...) and to the ending being one of those "the whole thing you think is happening, is not really happening" situations (I am not gonna spoil the ending this time.)
So, taking both the negatives and the positives into consideration, I believe that a 3.75/5 is a fair rating?
If you made it this far, congratulations!
'Til next time, take care :) :) :)
The narrator takes us through some events that left a big impact on his life and the details around them, such as him adopting a dog only to be forced to abandon him a couple of days later (whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy) the difficult relationship with his father, him being raised by a Catholic father and a Jewish mother and the whole conflict that this caused, his sexual awakening, him falling in love with literature and writing, death and finding meaning in life.
It's not a bad book by any means.
In fact, it's an enjoyable one, with a nice artistic style that changes to suit the mood of the narration, the timeline that we follow, or when we're inside one of the narrator's fantasies.
It does a decent job at presenting some events that changed the narrator's life, with him looking back at them as an adult.
But then again, it doesn't come without its flaws.
Which in this case, mainly revolve around it being a bit too wordy for my liking.
By that, I actually mean that it has a habit of dragging the stories on and on by adding several details from his life into them, and when it goes back to narrating the main one, it is possible for the reader to get a little lost.
The rest of the flaws, lie to the narrator/author coming off as an unlikeable protagonist (which fair enough, he's a teenage boy for the best part of it, so...) and to the ending being one of those "the whole thing you think is happening, is not really happening" situations (I am not gonna spoil the ending this time.)
So, taking both the negatives and the positives into consideration, I believe that a 3.75/5 is a fair rating?
If you made it this far, congratulations!
'Til next time, take care :) :) :)
May 22, 2013
I’ve been a fan of J.M. DeMatteis’ work since I was a kid. To my mind, his Justice League International run was the true successor to Watchmen, since it painted superheroes as real people who joked and laughed and hung out with their friends and worked for a living. Whereas, Kraven’s Last Hunt was such a heavy meditation on death and loss that I couldn’t believe it was written by the same guy. I love his versatility, his humor, his literary chops and, most of all, his deep spiritual questing, which is best displayed in works like Doctor Strange: Into Shambhala, Blood: A Tale and the satirical coming-of-age tale Moonshadow. When I had the chance to meet the author at WonderCon, he told me how this is one of the best stories he’s ever written (or at least one of his personal favorites) and compared it to a real-life version of Moonshadow, which was more than enough to sell me on it. While I can’t say it’s my personal favorite J.M. DeMatteis story, it certainly has given me a lot to contemplate and I think it is the key to understanding not just his oeuvre, but his whole raison d’etre.
DeMatteis’ spiritual and philosophical concerns echo those of his literary heroes: Hermann Hesse, William Blake, Aldous Huxley and, most of all, Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Those literary influences come strongly into play in Brooklyn Dreams, DeMatteis’ most personal story. More than just signifiers, their work provides a key, I think, for understanding what DeMatteis is trying to say here. It is, as the narrator states early on, a book about God. Dematteis’ own personal, mystical connection to the divine is at the heart of the story. But it’s also a book about literary influences and the effect that literature can have on our lives.
The story is told in what appears to be a rambling sort of way, with multiple digressions and digressions within digressions. He circles around certain plot points and often trails off into silence. It’s a maddening technique at times, but, I think, a deliberate one. Brooklyn Dreams is the story of a man suffering a crisis of faith, not in God, but in stories. Like much of Neil Gaiman’s work, Brookly Dreams examines the nature and value of stories themselves. Only, DeMatteis seems much more skeptical. The narrative is filled with references to conspiracy theories, hoaxes, explanations, denials, uncertainties and outright lies. I think DeMatteis, thanks to his literary heroes, sees words and stories as a way of expressing profound truths. But his own experiences in life (especially as a teenager growing up in the ’60s and ’70s) also show the dark side of this path—the confusion, the cover-ups, the deliberate obfuscation for which words are so often used.
I think it’s important to note that, since DeMatteis is Jewish on his mother’s side, he was raised with an awareness of the faith: he read the Torah, he had his bar mitzvah, but his heart was never in it (although he had expressed religious sensibilities). Instead, his communion with the divine comes not from reading religious texts, but from a direct experience of heightened consciousness (which he believe to be drug-induced). But then, he needs to rely on the written word in order to process and communicate this mystical experience. Therein lies the rub for him. DeMatteis knows that words can never do his experience justice, but they are the only tool he has at his disposal. I think that’s why he comes at it in such a roundabout way over the course of 400 pages. When everything is connected, it’s impossible to determine what part of the story isn’t relevant when it’s all relevant. But, like making a map, DeMatteis has to let some detail fall away so that the larger patterns can emerge and the path can be delineated.
Artistically, Brooklyn Dreams is a bold statement. If I had to compare it to something, my first thought would be Harvey Pekar’s American Splendor, with its autobiographical slice-of-life stories. And while Brooklyn Dreams is an autobiography of a sort, that does spend a lot of time recounting the author’s youthful misadventures with sex and drugs and family and friends and school, its main concern is with the intersection of stories and truth, with the correlation between direct and mediated experience and whether or not an artistic medium can ever convey a profoundly personal experience.
I think Glenn Barr is the perfect artist to bring this story to life. I’d be curious to know how the partnership came about, what DeMatteis thinks of the art and how Glenn Barr feels about his work on the story. I know from comments the artist has made that he found working in comics dull and frustrating because he was usually just a hired hand brought in to illustrate someone else’s story (a lot of talking heads) and he didn’t feel like he was truly collaborating artistically. I don’t know if he was referencing Brooklyn Dreams, specifically, when he made those comments. There are a lot of talking heads in this story. But, while it is DeMatteis’ story, Barr serves that story magnificently.
Most of the art is sketchy and crudely rendered, but that is counter-balanced by pages and panels that are fully painted and highly stylized. This matches the ebb and flow of the narrative, being recalled decades later by the protagonist, as some details themselves are sketchy, while others are firmly etched in his mind. Barr’s status as an outsider artist adds a layer of narrative complexity to this unconventional story. Instead of inappropriate superhero tropes, we’re treated to an artistic style that seems to be making things up as it goes along, same as the story, but actually everything is deliberately designed to seem that way, for purposes that become clear as the story reaches its climax. Barr’s Brooklyn dreamscape is both surreal and seedy, simultaneously gritty and hazy, anchored in time and place, but also lost to the mists of memory and distorted by emotion. The decision to publish it in black and white also adds not only to the underground/indie comics aesthetic, but to the cognitive demands of what Marshall McLuhan dubbed a “cool medium,” where the minimal presentation of visual detail requires a high degree of effort and participation on the part of the reader in order to determine meaning and value.
DeMatteis’ spiritual and philosophical concerns echo those of his literary heroes: Hermann Hesse, William Blake, Aldous Huxley and, most of all, Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Those literary influences come strongly into play in Brooklyn Dreams, DeMatteis’ most personal story. More than just signifiers, their work provides a key, I think, for understanding what DeMatteis is trying to say here. It is, as the narrator states early on, a book about God. Dematteis’ own personal, mystical connection to the divine is at the heart of the story. But it’s also a book about literary influences and the effect that literature can have on our lives.
The story is told in what appears to be a rambling sort of way, with multiple digressions and digressions within digressions. He circles around certain plot points and often trails off into silence. It’s a maddening technique at times, but, I think, a deliberate one. Brooklyn Dreams is the story of a man suffering a crisis of faith, not in God, but in stories. Like much of Neil Gaiman’s work, Brookly Dreams examines the nature and value of stories themselves. Only, DeMatteis seems much more skeptical. The narrative is filled with references to conspiracy theories, hoaxes, explanations, denials, uncertainties and outright lies. I think DeMatteis, thanks to his literary heroes, sees words and stories as a way of expressing profound truths. But his own experiences in life (especially as a teenager growing up in the ’60s and ’70s) also show the dark side of this path—the confusion, the cover-ups, the deliberate obfuscation for which words are so often used.
I think it’s important to note that, since DeMatteis is Jewish on his mother’s side, he was raised with an awareness of the faith: he read the Torah, he had his bar mitzvah, but his heart was never in it (although he had expressed religious sensibilities). Instead, his communion with the divine comes not from reading religious texts, but from a direct experience of heightened consciousness (which he believe to be drug-induced). But then, he needs to rely on the written word in order to process and communicate this mystical experience. Therein lies the rub for him. DeMatteis knows that words can never do his experience justice, but they are the only tool he has at his disposal. I think that’s why he comes at it in such a roundabout way over the course of 400 pages. When everything is connected, it’s impossible to determine what part of the story isn’t relevant when it’s all relevant. But, like making a map, DeMatteis has to let some detail fall away so that the larger patterns can emerge and the path can be delineated.
Artistically, Brooklyn Dreams is a bold statement. If I had to compare it to something, my first thought would be Harvey Pekar’s American Splendor, with its autobiographical slice-of-life stories. And while Brooklyn Dreams is an autobiography of a sort, that does spend a lot of time recounting the author’s youthful misadventures with sex and drugs and family and friends and school, its main concern is with the intersection of stories and truth, with the correlation between direct and mediated experience and whether or not an artistic medium can ever convey a profoundly personal experience.
I think Glenn Barr is the perfect artist to bring this story to life. I’d be curious to know how the partnership came about, what DeMatteis thinks of the art and how Glenn Barr feels about his work on the story. I know from comments the artist has made that he found working in comics dull and frustrating because he was usually just a hired hand brought in to illustrate someone else’s story (a lot of talking heads) and he didn’t feel like he was truly collaborating artistically. I don’t know if he was referencing Brooklyn Dreams, specifically, when he made those comments. There are a lot of talking heads in this story. But, while it is DeMatteis’ story, Barr serves that story magnificently.
Most of the art is sketchy and crudely rendered, but that is counter-balanced by pages and panels that are fully painted and highly stylized. This matches the ebb and flow of the narrative, being recalled decades later by the protagonist, as some details themselves are sketchy, while others are firmly etched in his mind. Barr’s status as an outsider artist adds a layer of narrative complexity to this unconventional story. Instead of inappropriate superhero tropes, we’re treated to an artistic style that seems to be making things up as it goes along, same as the story, but actually everything is deliberately designed to seem that way, for purposes that become clear as the story reaches its climax. Barr’s Brooklyn dreamscape is both surreal and seedy, simultaneously gritty and hazy, anchored in time and place, but also lost to the mists of memory and distorted by emotion. The decision to publish it in black and white also adds not only to the underground/indie comics aesthetic, but to the cognitive demands of what Marshall McLuhan dubbed a “cool medium,” where the minimal presentation of visual detail requires a high degree of effort and participation on the part of the reader in order to determine meaning and value.
January 19, 2023
Yazarın kendi hayatından büyük bir kesitin tüm detayları ile özellikle de karakter gelişiminin çok iyi anlatıldığı, kurgusu, anlatım şekli ve tarzı ile dikkat çeken, çizimleri çok başarılı grafik roman. Yazar ile çizer aralarında mükemmel bir uyum yakalamışlar, bu bize o kadar yansıyor ki. Çizer Glenn Barr gerçekten DeMatteis'in kafasında ne varsa aktarmış ve bunu çok iyi başarmış. Daldan dala atlayan ve bunu yer yer çok komik absürt şekilde yapan DeMatteis okuyucu hep zinde tutmuş. Panellemeler de hikaye anlatımına çok uygun, siyah beyaz oluşu da anlatımı atmosferi güçlendiren bir detay olmuş.
Grafik roman ile ne yapılıra ve nasıl anlatılıra çok iyi örnek olan çok farklı ve mutlaka bakılması gereken güzel bir iş Brooklyn Düşleri
Grafik roman ile ne yapılıra ve nasıl anlatılıra çok iyi örnek olan çok farklı ve mutlaka bakılması gereken güzel bir iş Brooklyn Düşleri
November 24, 2008
I really liked the art in this book, so kudos to Glenn Barr. The story, however, was pretty boring and not very unique. It's a pseudo-memoir of a Brooklyn kid's last year of high school in 1970. Even though the story is ostensibly told by the narrator when he's an adult looking back at his childhood and adolescence, it still comes off as the self-indulgent ramblings of a teenager.
August 3, 2018
what started out as quite interesting turned out to be a long, dreary psychoanalysis of his own life. It's like a 3 hour episode of Wonder Years. minus the humor.
This guy must be a real bag of fun at dinner parties.
The art is commendable at least.
This guy must be a real bag of fun at dinner parties.
The art is commendable at least.
January 10, 2025
It’s unclear whether “Brooklyn Dreams” is a non-fiction or fiction graphic memoir, but whatever the case, our narrator breaks the fourth wall to tell us about his coming of age and, specifically what happened in his senior year of high school.
The narrator (Vincent/Carl) will take detour after detour before finally getting around to his senior year. We’ll hear about his psychotic family, fear of death, guardian angel of a dog, experimenting with drugs, first arrest, first love, discovery of sex, love of literature and philosophy, etc. The narrator quotes or relays lessons from his heroes: Hesse, Orwell, Dostoevsky, Lennon, Leary, Ram Dass.
The art is done in black ink on white paper. The narrator is hyper realistic in appearance while all of the flashbacks are much more “cartoonish.”
I enjoyed this. A few people that I admire and respect really loved this book, so it gets extra kudos for that. I can see how it would be rewarding to reread this.
The narrator (Vincent/Carl) will take detour after detour before finally getting around to his senior year. We’ll hear about his psychotic family, fear of death, guardian angel of a dog, experimenting with drugs, first arrest, first love, discovery of sex, love of literature and philosophy, etc. The narrator quotes or relays lessons from his heroes: Hesse, Orwell, Dostoevsky, Lennon, Leary, Ram Dass.
The art is done in black ink on white paper. The narrator is hyper realistic in appearance while all of the flashbacks are much more “cartoonish.”
I enjoyed this. A few people that I admire and respect really loved this book, so it gets extra kudos for that. I can see how it would be rewarding to reread this.
August 8, 2023
Found in a secondhand bookshop and thought the art looked cool :)
This guy had a super average adolescence that he found a lot more fascinating than I did 🤣 Like getting stuck at a party with a self-obsessed American!
The art was cool though 😁
This guy had a super average adolescence that he found a lot more fascinating than I did 🤣 Like getting stuck at a party with a self-obsessed American!
The art was cool though 😁
June 15, 2024
The art and environmental story telling is so top tier
September 5, 2024
One of my all-time favorite graphic memoirs. I've read it at least five times at this point. Too bad it's out of print.
April 11, 2014
I try to keep these reviews solely focused on the work itself and leave out personal stories... but real quick: I first started reading Brooklyn Dreams when I was in high school. The comic was originally published across four digest-sized collections and I read the first issue at a friend's house. I remember quite liking it but never getting the opportunity to finish out the story. Now, over a decade later, I'm finally getting the rest of the story. If you've read Brooklyn Dreams, you know how strangely right this chain of events may seem when looking at the material of book itself... and honestly, even this digression is oddly fitting with the overall tale as well.
Brooklyn Dreams is a comic novel written by J.M. DeMatteis, famous for lengthy runs on Marvel Comics' Spider-Man titles and revamping DC Comics' Justice League in the 1980's. I don't think it's a huge leap to say BD is semi-autobiographical, detailing the protagonist, Vincent Carl Santini's life growing up in Brooklyn in the late 1960's/early 1970's. The story is told in flashback, as the Carl the elder brings readers through a digression-filled walk down memory lane. In the early going, Carl lets us know this is ultimately a story about God and the nature of spirituality but he takes his time getting there. While I can see some readers having a problem with rambling narrative, I rather enjoyed the digressions... and one gets the sense DeMatteis did as well. Carl is acutely aware of how trying it might be for a reader looking for a linear storyline to wade through his memories, and often calls himself to the mat for being self-indulgent. This is one instance where having an author point out his own trick does seem to forgive the use of the trick... at least, in my estimation.
The art, provided in stark black and white by Glenn Barr, is a key element of this collection. Barr's work moves from inky, almost graffiti like doodles to in-depth realistically painted portrayals of people and settings. It serves DeMatteis' ramshackle flashback storytelling method, as Carl memories double back over one another in a series of digressions and storytelling cul-de-sacs, Barr's pen ably distinguishes these diversions. The sketchiness of Barr's work provides an immediacy of emotion that a smoother, more streamlined finish might miss, especially considering our protagonist's state of mind during the majority of the story. I find it takes a genuinely talented artist to leave so much open for his readership, and Barr does that in spades. My favorite aspect of his work is the way he draws Carl's shoes.
Brooklyn Dreams does have problems, especially in the final 100 pages or so. DeMatteis works so well building up the personalities of Carl's family in the first three fourths of the book that when he introduces two pivotal characters toward the final chapters (a school teacher, a lost love), he doesn't bring to thos people the depth we've come to expect after reading so much about Carl's parents. This is a shame, as those characters move the story toward its' promised conclusion... leaving that resolution a little underwhelming.
I also felt a flaw in DeMatteis' script (and again, this comes within the back half of Brooklyn Dreams) is having Carl make reference to OTHER stories that he's not telling us about his family and life... all the while saying that he hopes to get to those "someday." As a writer, DeMatteis comes from the school of monthly comic book scribes and perhaps he's overly used to dropping hints and clues about future stories. Perhaps he even planned on revisiting these characters at some point... but it's about twenty years after Brooklyn Dreams' original release and it doesn't seem like there's any new material. It makes this seem more like a story in a series rather than a novel that stands on its' own. Brooklyn Dreams runs almost 400 pages. It would have been better to stick to one story rather than sketch out another that may or may not ever be written.
Brooklyn Dreams is a comic novel written by J.M. DeMatteis, famous for lengthy runs on Marvel Comics' Spider-Man titles and revamping DC Comics' Justice League in the 1980's. I don't think it's a huge leap to say BD is semi-autobiographical, detailing the protagonist, Vincent Carl Santini's life growing up in Brooklyn in the late 1960's/early 1970's. The story is told in flashback, as the Carl the elder brings readers through a digression-filled walk down memory lane. In the early going, Carl lets us know this is ultimately a story about God and the nature of spirituality but he takes his time getting there. While I can see some readers having a problem with rambling narrative, I rather enjoyed the digressions... and one gets the sense DeMatteis did as well. Carl is acutely aware of how trying it might be for a reader looking for a linear storyline to wade through his memories, and often calls himself to the mat for being self-indulgent. This is one instance where having an author point out his own trick does seem to forgive the use of the trick... at least, in my estimation.
The art, provided in stark black and white by Glenn Barr, is a key element of this collection. Barr's work moves from inky, almost graffiti like doodles to in-depth realistically painted portrayals of people and settings. It serves DeMatteis' ramshackle flashback storytelling method, as Carl memories double back over one another in a series of digressions and storytelling cul-de-sacs, Barr's pen ably distinguishes these diversions. The sketchiness of Barr's work provides an immediacy of emotion that a smoother, more streamlined finish might miss, especially considering our protagonist's state of mind during the majority of the story. I find it takes a genuinely talented artist to leave so much open for his readership, and Barr does that in spades. My favorite aspect of his work is the way he draws Carl's shoes.
Brooklyn Dreams does have problems, especially in the final 100 pages or so. DeMatteis works so well building up the personalities of Carl's family in the first three fourths of the book that when he introduces two pivotal characters toward the final chapters (a school teacher, a lost love), he doesn't bring to thos people the depth we've come to expect after reading so much about Carl's parents. This is a shame, as those characters move the story toward its' promised conclusion... leaving that resolution a little underwhelming.
I also felt a flaw in DeMatteis' script (and again, this comes within the back half of Brooklyn Dreams) is having Carl make reference to OTHER stories that he's not telling us about his family and life... all the while saying that he hopes to get to those "someday." As a writer, DeMatteis comes from the school of monthly comic book scribes and perhaps he's overly used to dropping hints and clues about future stories. Perhaps he even planned on revisiting these characters at some point... but it's about twenty years after Brooklyn Dreams' original release and it doesn't seem like there's any new material. It makes this seem more like a story in a series rather than a novel that stands on its' own. Brooklyn Dreams runs almost 400 pages. It would have been better to stick to one story rather than sketch out another that may or may not ever be written.
March 11, 2017
Brooklyn Dreams is a story about a man named Vincent Carl Santini. Vincent is a simple man just trying to tell his true, teenage life story, or lies he would say are more truthful than the real story. It is unknown the time and place when Vincent first addresses the reader, but most of his story takes place in 60's and 70's Brooklyn. It's hard to have an exact range of time because as he tells his story, he jumps between different times, teen years to childhood to young adult then back to teen and so on. While the story majorly features Vincent it also shows a little peek into the lives of his father Dominique, the Italian macho man hothead, and his mother Esther, the quiet, chain-smoking Jewish paranoia addict. There are other various supporting characters like his best friend "Shane", Jackie the druggie, and Bilbo, the lovable mutt that Vincent finds outside his apartment building. The main conflict we see through out the novel is Vincent's struggle to truly come into his own and really make the shift from boy to man, from stoner kid to responsible and capable young adult. Another major conflict that we see is his journey through trying to understand God as he goes through the ups and downs of life. While those are the main conflicts, there are other minor situations the come about, like his night in jail and his first encounter/ fear of death.
I thought this was a surprisingly enjoyable book, from the vivid art work to the amazing levels of character development that we see in Vincent, and even some of the more minor characters like "Shane". It certainly is a book meant for mature audiences, there are many uses of language, drugs, alcohol, and other dark subject matter unfit for young children, but it still proves to be an amazing and relatable story. Not in that I've shared experiences, but the story is written so vividly that it is easy to sympathize with Vincent, as if you had lived his whole life too. This book was definitely thought provoking. Whether it was about the kind of people I choose to be around or the way I believed in God, it made me think long and hard about it.
I would recommend this book to any mature readers looking for a book that will make you question your life decisions, a reality check in a way. But I have to stress that the reader must be a mature person, this book deals with very dark topics very lightly, as if they meant nothing. In fact the book was even a stretch for someone my age to have read, but I chose to stick it out because it is so enrapturing. Anyone who wants to get lost in a character should definitely take a look at this story, it makes you feel like you lived a new life. It encapsulates the reader with an uncanny art style and dialogue that seems so real it practically reads its self to you. This is an amazing book and is so easy to get lost in, you start to lose track of time and when you never want to stop reading until it's over. This is one of the best books I've ever read and I would recommend it to nearly anyone.
I thought this was a surprisingly enjoyable book, from the vivid art work to the amazing levels of character development that we see in Vincent, and even some of the more minor characters like "Shane". It certainly is a book meant for mature audiences, there are many uses of language, drugs, alcohol, and other dark subject matter unfit for young children, but it still proves to be an amazing and relatable story. Not in that I've shared experiences, but the story is written so vividly that it is easy to sympathize with Vincent, as if you had lived his whole life too. This book was definitely thought provoking. Whether it was about the kind of people I choose to be around or the way I believed in God, it made me think long and hard about it.
I would recommend this book to any mature readers looking for a book that will make you question your life decisions, a reality check in a way. But I have to stress that the reader must be a mature person, this book deals with very dark topics very lightly, as if they meant nothing. In fact the book was even a stretch for someone my age to have read, but I chose to stick it out because it is so enrapturing. Anyone who wants to get lost in a character should definitely take a look at this story, it makes you feel like you lived a new life. It encapsulates the reader with an uncanny art style and dialogue that seems so real it practically reads its self to you. This is an amazing book and is so easy to get lost in, you start to lose track of time and when you never want to stop reading until it's over. This is one of the best books I've ever read and I would recommend it to nearly anyone.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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January 7, 2011Brooklyn Dreams is a graphic novel about this mans life. It may sound nerdy since its a graphic novel but this book is absolutely amazing. This book just goes through this mans life. From when he was a child to a grown up. It hits all the weird and interesting things that he had to deal with when growing up. It shows how he sees things, how he felt at those moments. How his parents fought, how his sister didnt ever listen, how he saw his dad, when he went through puberty, what it was like for his family when family members where dying. It sounds strange but it is an amazing book and i would recommend it if your into strange books.
May 5, 2017
What is the foundation of a man's character if not all his experiences bad or good, ups and downs and tears shed and loves lost, wonderings about the nature of reality, about life and death ?
This is a work of reminiscences from J. M DeMatteis late adolescence years kindly shared with us not because the author wants to promote himself self indulgently but rather because the stories are so pungent and touchy - why not ?- that is undeniably difficult not to relate to them or see yourself captured by one of the memories as your own.
It is a story of blossoming but unlike DeMatteis masterpiece "Moonshadow", it is grounded on reality but told as a fantasy story.
This is a work of reminiscences from J. M DeMatteis late adolescence years kindly shared with us not because the author wants to promote himself self indulgently but rather because the stories are so pungent and touchy - why not ?- that is undeniably difficult not to relate to them or see yourself captured by one of the memories as your own.
It is a story of blossoming but unlike DeMatteis masterpiece "Moonshadow", it is grounded on reality but told as a fantasy story.
October 22, 2012
Largely autobiographical (I assume) story of growing up in Brooklyn in the late 60s-early 70s. The story rambles, with many digressions, but that's part of the point: life isn't a neat and tidy story. The story does lean pretty heavily on the mystical/philosophical musings that sometimes turns me off of DeMatteis's work, but because it is a very personal story, it works for me here.
May 26, 2017
Got pretty much in love with this... I seriously loved the graphics, the narrative is just what I would look for.... very introspective, very philosophical.
It's the story of this guy in his teenage years and how some decisions in his life were taken because of the dysfunctional household he lived in.
It's the story of this guy in his teenage years and how some decisions in his life were taken because of the dysfunctional household he lived in.
April 1, 2011
The main character, Carl, invites the reader to a lengthy conversation about his senior year of high school, his family, and ultimately God. He goes off on tangents that instead of being annoying, make it feel more realistic. A rare thing for a graphic novel.
September 10, 2015
Ne ho parlato sul mio canale di Youtube con un video-esperimento in cui tento di raccontarti proprio questo fumetto Link al video.
October 22, 2018
Hiç bitmeyen, sürekli konudan konuya atlayan bir Woody Allen filmi gibi. Çizgisi ve çizgisel anlatımı çok güzel ama çok yoruyor. Woody Allen tarzı gevezeliğin, laf kalabalığının ve kaosun kitaba dönüşmüş hali.
November 20, 2007
One of the best reads I've experienced with comics. Drawn by the amazing Glenn Barr from Detroit.
January 12, 2018
Çevirisi bitti ;)
June 27, 2020
Went totally off the rails in chapter 4. To quote the narrator: "Yeah, I know. Some of you think this is just new age garbage. Shirley MacLaine horseshit." Why, yes I do!
OK. So the story is well crafted, and the narrator's voice held my attention. The characters are interesting enough, even if they are nothing new. I did enjoy the narrative journey of the first three chapters. Adolescent angst, messed up family, and all that. BUT! In the end DeMatteis completely dodged the big question he'd been teasing -- what is the deep-dark that's got this kid so twisted up? Instead we get a bait-and-switch attempt to sell us on a sudden transcendent awakening whose only explanation, in his eyes, is divine. It's DEEP! It's MEANINGFUL! It's flaccid.
A couple of other things...
I didn't like the lettering style. Bob Lappan draws his cross-bars (in As, Es, Fs, Hs, etc.) super high and in sentences with a lot of these letters it's distracting and a bit difficult to read.
And Glenn Barr's art... I liked it, mostly, but was also frustrated by it. He intentionally switches around his style a lot -- cartoony, realistic, sketchy line art, and with a few different rendering flourishes over all of them. He's a good artist, and I appreciated most of the pages, but (maybe I missed something here) I could not discern a meaning or method for the different styles. Their application felt random.
And yet! I did really enjoy about 3/4 of the book. It's too bad, very disappointing actually, that it flamed out so badly in the end.
OK. So the story is well crafted, and the narrator's voice held my attention. The characters are interesting enough, even if they are nothing new. I did enjoy the narrative journey of the first three chapters. Adolescent angst, messed up family, and all that. BUT! In the end DeMatteis completely dodged the big question he'd been teasing -- what is the deep-dark that's got this kid so twisted up? Instead we get a bait-and-switch attempt to sell us on a sudden transcendent awakening whose only explanation, in his eyes, is divine. It's DEEP! It's MEANINGFUL! It's flaccid.
A couple of other things...
I didn't like the lettering style. Bob Lappan draws his cross-bars (in As, Es, Fs, Hs, etc.) super high and in sentences with a lot of these letters it's distracting and a bit difficult to read.
And Glenn Barr's art... I liked it, mostly, but was also frustrated by it. He intentionally switches around his style a lot -- cartoony, realistic, sketchy line art, and with a few different rendering flourishes over all of them. He's a good artist, and I appreciated most of the pages, but (maybe I missed something here) I could not discern a meaning or method for the different styles. Their application felt random.
And yet! I did really enjoy about 3/4 of the book. It's too bad, very disappointing actually, that it flamed out so badly in the end.
October 25, 2025
Historia autobiográfica muy levemente disfrazada de la historia de otro tipo, DeMatteis desnuda en este cómic su corazón y su filosofía mientras desgrana una más que interesante historia narrada en plan "stream of consciousness", pero con tanta habilidad que el lector nunca llega a perderse. A nadie debe sorprender que este guionista sea una especie de George Harrison de las viñetas en lo tocante a la espiritualidad, muy cercano a las religiones orientales, como ha demostrado, sobre todo, en su etapa en Doctor Fate, con bastantes más luces que sombras, pese a quien pese.
El arte de Glenn Barr acompaña, y mucho, a esta autobiografía en viñetas, pasando fluidamente del fotorrealismo a la hora de plasmar al narrador del presente, a la caricatura más o menos elaborada según que anécdota o hecho crucial del pasado de este se narre. En definitiva, una obra muy interesante para cualquier seguidor de su ilustre guionista.
El arte de Glenn Barr acompaña, y mucho, a esta autobiografía en viñetas, pasando fluidamente del fotorrealismo a la hora de plasmar al narrador del presente, a la caricatura más o menos elaborada según que anécdota o hecho crucial del pasado de este se narre. En definitiva, una obra muy interesante para cualquier seguidor de su ilustre guionista.
November 27, 2019
When I first read this book around age 20, it was THE BEST COMIC I'D EVER READ. Coming back to it now, twenty-some years later, I can see the self-indulgence and new-agey ramblings of it (and I REALLY notice how defensive the book can be about its new-age ramblings) and I see that it's not perfect, but there's still something interesting in the telling, even if the endpoint falls flat. DeMatteis' narration, with digressions within digressions, is wonderful, a very natural and conversational narration that few in comics would ever dare attempt, much less succeed with as effectively as he does here. The characters are very vivid, if caricatured, and Glenn Barr - holy shit, Glenn Barr - gives a virtuoso performance for the ages. Brooklyn Dreams comes very highly recommended if only for the range, style and impact of Barr's cartooning.
January 17, 2021
Brooklyn Düşleri, J.M. DeMatteis'in dünyasını kendi ağzından çok samimi bir dille okuyucuya aktarıyor. Çizimlerindeki keskinlik ve anlattığı dünya. Her okur mutlaka bir parça bulacaktır. Rutin dünyanın karşısında genç bir ruh ve hepimizin doldurması gereken bir ömürü. Lise yıllarındaki yeni keşifler ve heyecanlar, kaybedişler, üzüntüler ve yetişkinliğin o renksiz dünyası. DeMatteis sanki hem yazarak hem çizerek algının kapılarını gençliğinden biraz daha farklı aşıyor. Dostoyevski'ye yaptığı göndermeler ve varoluşun ağırlığını alıp götürüyor. annesinin ve babasının takıntılarının gençliğini nasıl zora soktuğu ancak her şeye rağmen içindekilerle nasıl yaşaması gerektiğini kendi başına çözüyor. sadece bir çizgiroman olarak küçük görmek olmaz, dörtyüz sayfalık sağlam bir metin var. hiç kimseden korkmadan, hiç kimseden çekinmeden, yaşanan bir hayat.
August 12, 2017
When speaking of memories with a friend, and the veracity of those memories, she recommended this book. It's a graphic novel touching the subject of important memories and how they support who we are and who we want to be. I'm not accustomed to this genre, but found the narrative supported by the drawings compelling and supportive of the story.
Mr. DeMatteis' memories of his past are coincident to mine of mine and it was almost spooky to recall my memories in the same way the author portrayed his.
Thanks Diane, for the recommendation.
Mr. DeMatteis' memories of his past are coincident to mine of mine and it was almost spooky to recall my memories in the same way the author portrayed his.
Thanks Diane, for the recommendation.
June 18, 2023
There is no possibility for 6 stars, or even 7, but this book, this GN, is just that. A simple masterpiece. J. M. De Matteis is a great writer, whom I loved back with “Kraven’s Last Hunt”, a true masterpiece the same about the old Spider-Man villain, and this GN only underlines his great, enormous talent. A wonderful coming-of-age novel about God, love and everything in between. Just read it, and you’ll be fascinated like I was, be assured of it. This is comics at his best, far superior to many products.
April 6, 2020
It was unclear to me if this was fiction or autobiography. I’ve decided a mix of both. It worked better as autobiography. As fiction, I guess I didn’t really understand why the author would write it. I enjoyed the development of themes, the rambling and distracted narrator, the picture of Brooklyn in the 70s. Overall it had a good rhythm and aesthetic that I’ve come to appreciate in autobiographical comics.
February 7, 2022
Capolavoro di J.M. DeMatteis! Completamente diverso dai miei adorati "L'ultima caccia di Kraven" e "Il bambino dentro", Brooklyn Dreams è una storia profonda, ironica, divertente, disperata sulla vita, sull'umanità e sull'esistenza (in qualche modo) di Dio... Fa riflettere e diverte: un grandissimo DeMatteis, ottimamente supportato dai disegni underground di Glenn Barr. Una bellissima sorpresa!
August 30, 2025
hikayenin içinde geçtiği atmosfer oldukça içine çekiyor ve sayfaları çevirme isteği uyandırıyor. hayatın anlam yolculuğu arayışının sondaki şekilde bitmesi hikayeyi bir anda oldu bittiye çevirmiş gibi gözükse de aslında baştan beri iç karartıcı bir karakterin bulduğu yanıtın sevgi olması da bir o kadar manidar olmuş
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