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Sakın Söyleme
bir star parlar. bir topluluk yanar. ölen bir kadın huzur bulur. bir çocuğun kalbi kırılır.
İnsanlar bu dünyadaki yerlerini nasıl bulur ve bununla nasıl uzlaşır?
Bu soru Nate Powell'ın çalışmalarının merkezinde yer alıyor.
Ödüllü grafik romancı Powell, Sakın Söyleme'de güçlü kısa öykülerini bir araya getiriyor. Ruhani ve zorlayıcı hikâyelerine bir yazar olarak hem dürüst hem de şefkatli yaklaşıyor.
"Büyüleyici, şiirsel, görsel bir şölen. Sakın Söyleme kafamızın içinde yer edecek. Kitabı bitirdikten sonra bile içindeki melodilerini mırıldanıyor olacaksınız." - Becky Cloonan
"Sakın Söyleme, öykü derlemesinden çok daha fazlası. Günümüzün en yetenekli hikâye anlatıcılarından birinin, geçirmiş olduğu evrimin bir aynası." -Scott Snyder
İnsanlar bu dünyadaki yerlerini nasıl bulur ve bununla nasıl uzlaşır?
Bu soru Nate Powell'ın çalışmalarının merkezinde yer alıyor.
Ödüllü grafik romancı Powell, Sakın Söyleme'de güçlü kısa öykülerini bir araya getiriyor. Ruhani ve zorlayıcı hikâyelerine bir yazar olarak hem dürüst hem de şefkatli yaklaşıyor.
"Büyüleyici, şiirsel, görsel bir şölen. Sakın Söyleme kafamızın içinde yer edecek. Kitabı bitirdikten sonra bile içindeki melodilerini mırıldanıyor olacaksınız." - Becky Cloonan
"Sakın Söyleme, öykü derlemesinden çok daha fazlası. Günümüzün en yetenekli hikâye anlatıcılarından birinin, geçirmiş olduğu evrimin bir aynası." -Scott Snyder
176 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2014
8 people are currently reading
215 people want to read
About the author
Nate Powell
70 books199 followersNathan Lee Powell is an American cartoonist and musician.
Born in 1978 in Little Rock, Arkansas, Nate spent his childhood in different parts of the country, as his family moved around following his father's duties as an Air Force officer.
Powell became active in the punk rock scene since his teen age. He ended up performing in several bands over the years, and even owing a DIY punk record label. At the same time, he developed an interest in visual arts and majored in Cartooning at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York.
For about ten years Powell worked as a care giver for adult with developmental disabilities, while also drawing comic books. His major break came with the graphic novel Swallow Me Whole, which won the Ignatz Award for Outstanding Debut and Outstanding Artist in 2008, as well as the Eisner Award for Best Original Graphic Novel in 2009. Between 2013 and 2016 Nate Powell released what remains his most famous work, the three volumes of March, a comic biography of civil rights activist and Congressman John Lewis.
Born in 1978 in Little Rock, Arkansas, Nate spent his childhood in different parts of the country, as his family moved around following his father's duties as an Air Force officer.
Powell became active in the punk rock scene since his teen age. He ended up performing in several bands over the years, and even owing a DIY punk record label. At the same time, he developed an interest in visual arts and majored in Cartooning at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York.
For about ten years Powell worked as a care giver for adult with developmental disabilities, while also drawing comic books. His major break came with the graphic novel Swallow Me Whole, which won the Ignatz Award for Outstanding Debut and Outstanding Artist in 2008, as well as the Eisner Award for Best Original Graphic Novel in 2009. Between 2013 and 2016 Nate Powell released what remains his most famous work, the three volumes of March, a comic biography of civil rights activist and Congressman John Lewis.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
May 25, 2015
Nate Powell’s best known for being the artist on March, the ongoing autobiographical comic of civil rights activist Congressman John Lewis, though you might also know him as the author of Swallow Me Whole. You Don’t Say is a collection of his short comics from between 2004-2013, some previously published, some not, and I really want to say it’s a great book because it has some comics in here that are excellent, but I found the whole thing very uneven.
Powell’s a great artist and all of the pages here are beautifully drawn though it’s clear to see his style becoming more streamlined and sophisticated from 2004 to the end of the book in 2013. The early strips have far too much writing crammed in between the art and gives the whole thing a messy look.
But the stories themselves… for the most part, I wasn’t really feeling it. It has something to do with their brevity as most are just a couple pages long but also because they’re more like illustrated thoughts than stories so they’re quite light, unimpressive, and easy to forget. One story is about Powell and a friend having dinner on his birthday then going to a party where he stands around quietly and then leaves. One story is about Powell moving around a lot in his 20s. One story is Powell illustrating Derek Fudesco’s lyrics to the Pretty Girls Make Graves song, The Get Away. There are some unused pages from Swallow Me Whole thrown in. Eh…
It’s clear right from the start that Powell has a strong social conscience as the opening story is of his time working as a carer for adults with developmental disabilities (Powell credits his childhood love of the X-Men for this by the way!), so it’s no surprise that years later John Lewis would pick him to draw his inspiring life story.
It’s also towards the end of the book that Powell starts to move away from the wishy-washy stories and latch onto more substantial subjects such as in “Like Hell I Will”. This comic tells the horrifying true story of Dick Rowland, a black shoe-shiner, who tripped entering an elevator, grabbed the arm of the white female operator to steady himself, and was accused of sexual assault! This being America in 1921, that was all the provocation needed for the white folk of Tulsa to massacre between 300 - 3000 black people - even the police and the national guard joined in, with planes sent in to actually drop bombs on black peoples’ homes! In the aftermath, nobody was arrested.
Conjurers is the other story I liked, about a woman trying to recall the time when, as a kid, her grandmother told her her great-grandmother’s recipe for chicken. Powell effortlessly weaves in the two narratives from different eras into a coherent single thread that connects the women across the years. Beautiful!
The Villa at the End of the Road was an interesting work of fiction that had the menacing tones of some of Hitchcock’s best stories as a woman visits her family’s destroyed cliffside home and meets her odd neighbour.
Though a handful of stories stand out and Powell’s art is wonderful throughout, there are too many average and less-than-average short comics here to recommend You Don’t Say as a great book. That said, there’s bound to be a story or two that’ll stick with you so it might be worth a look.
Powell’s a great artist and all of the pages here are beautifully drawn though it’s clear to see his style becoming more streamlined and sophisticated from 2004 to the end of the book in 2013. The early strips have far too much writing crammed in between the art and gives the whole thing a messy look.
But the stories themselves… for the most part, I wasn’t really feeling it. It has something to do with their brevity as most are just a couple pages long but also because they’re more like illustrated thoughts than stories so they’re quite light, unimpressive, and easy to forget. One story is about Powell and a friend having dinner on his birthday then going to a party where he stands around quietly and then leaves. One story is about Powell moving around a lot in his 20s. One story is Powell illustrating Derek Fudesco’s lyrics to the Pretty Girls Make Graves song, The Get Away. There are some unused pages from Swallow Me Whole thrown in. Eh…
It’s clear right from the start that Powell has a strong social conscience as the opening story is of his time working as a carer for adults with developmental disabilities (Powell credits his childhood love of the X-Men for this by the way!), so it’s no surprise that years later John Lewis would pick him to draw his inspiring life story.
It’s also towards the end of the book that Powell starts to move away from the wishy-washy stories and latch onto more substantial subjects such as in “Like Hell I Will”. This comic tells the horrifying true story of Dick Rowland, a black shoe-shiner, who tripped entering an elevator, grabbed the arm of the white female operator to steady himself, and was accused of sexual assault! This being America in 1921, that was all the provocation needed for the white folk of Tulsa to massacre between 300 - 3000 black people - even the police and the national guard joined in, with planes sent in to actually drop bombs on black peoples’ homes! In the aftermath, nobody was arrested.
Conjurers is the other story I liked, about a woman trying to recall the time when, as a kid, her grandmother told her her great-grandmother’s recipe for chicken. Powell effortlessly weaves in the two narratives from different eras into a coherent single thread that connects the women across the years. Beautiful!
The Villa at the End of the Road was an interesting work of fiction that had the menacing tones of some of Hitchcock’s best stories as a woman visits her family’s destroyed cliffside home and meets her odd neighbour.
Though a handful of stories stand out and Powell’s art is wonderful throughout, there are too many average and less-than-average short comics here to recommend You Don’t Say as a great book. That said, there’s bound to be a story or two that’ll stick with you so it might be worth a look.
May 14, 2021
Irkçılıkla ilgili 2 hikaye dışında, hiçbir bağ kuramadığım, hiçbir şey hissettirmeyen ve beğenmediğim hikayeciklerle dolu dağınık bir sayfalar bütünü.
March 3, 2019
I loved the art style of this comic, but I had to say that I just didn't understand all the stories. Some of them were interesting, but others just kind of went by me. I might have to read it again to fully understand the stories, but for now it's three stars. (I also haven't read that many graphic novels, so it might be that I just don't really understand the style yet.)
September 4, 2017
I bought this sight unseen at a convention because I am a huge fan of Nate's work. Months later when I finally sat down to read it, I was initially bummed that much of it is reprinted material from other books that I already had. As it turns out however: 1) it was a real pleasure rereading these stories 2) having this collection means I can now pass on my earlier copies of these stories to other folks 3) There were plenty of great short stories in here I had never seen before.
July 1, 2018
Read full review at: http://thereadingarmchair.blogspot.gr...
Listen to what You Don't Say sounds like, with this Play(list) by the Book, a literary playlist: http://thereadingarmchair.blogspot.co...
Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
You Don't Say is a collection of short stories, which show us the evolution of Nate Powell as an artist. First of all, I have to confess that this is the first time I read something by Powell, but after this one I will definitely search and read some of his previously released work.
The stories didn't have a common theme. Some were deeply personal, others were surreal sequences, one was a scene that didn't make it to Swallow Me Whole, and some were collaboration of the artist with other writers. From those the more personal stories, sometimes felt almost too personal. It was as if I was reading the diary of Nate Powell, without his permission. These particular stories, which are the first ones in the collection, didn't interest me enough, probably because I couldn't connect with them. I feel that this wouldn't be the case if they were a little more lengthy. My most favourite stories were the last five, which are the most recent ones. These stories were more intriguing to me, because they were either the result of Powell's collaboration with another writer or were just created by him. More precisely, the stories Conjurers and Havens Have Not, were the ones I prefered from the entire collection.
The art style of You Don't Say was impressive. The designs were all unique and memorable. If I happened to pick up a comic, I would recognise it as the work of Nate Powell, without even looking at the cover. The whole collection is in black and white and I'd very much love to see some coloured piece of the artist's work.
All in all, I would say that You Don't Say was a fairly enjoyable read. If you are a fan of Nate Powell, then you should definitely pick it up. If you are, like myself, unaware of his other graphic novels, you could either read this as a guide to the artist's evolution through the years, or start with his other graphic novels. In any case, I believe that this collection is worth a try.
Listen to what You Don't Say sounds like, with this Play(list) by the Book, a literary playlist: http://thereadingarmchair.blogspot.co...
Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
You Don't Say is a collection of short stories, which show us the evolution of Nate Powell as an artist. First of all, I have to confess that this is the first time I read something by Powell, but after this one I will definitely search and read some of his previously released work.
The stories didn't have a common theme. Some were deeply personal, others were surreal sequences, one was a scene that didn't make it to Swallow Me Whole, and some were collaboration of the artist with other writers. From those the more personal stories, sometimes felt almost too personal. It was as if I was reading the diary of Nate Powell, without his permission. These particular stories, which are the first ones in the collection, didn't interest me enough, probably because I couldn't connect with them. I feel that this wouldn't be the case if they were a little more lengthy. My most favourite stories were the last five, which are the most recent ones. These stories were more intriguing to me, because they were either the result of Powell's collaboration with another writer or were just created by him. More precisely, the stories Conjurers and Havens Have Not, were the ones I prefered from the entire collection.
The art style of You Don't Say was impressive. The designs were all unique and memorable. If I happened to pick up a comic, I would recognise it as the work of Nate Powell, without even looking at the cover. The whole collection is in black and white and I'd very much love to see some coloured piece of the artist's work.
All in all, I would say that You Don't Say was a fairly enjoyable read. If you are a fan of Nate Powell, then you should definitely pick it up. If you are, like myself, unaware of his other graphic novels, you could either read this as a guide to the artist's evolution through the years, or start with his other graphic novels. In any case, I believe that this collection is worth a try.
March 4, 2016
Early work from Nate Powell, whose excellent Swallow Me Whole I loved. Swallow is a dark story of two schizophrenic siblings, a story emerging in part out of his work with developmentally disabled young adults. He also is getting most known for his work in the March civil rights trilogy. In the seventeen stories in this volume, you can see brief indications of the work to come in mental health and the American history of racism. Powell grew up in the south and moved to Indiana, expecting to find different racial politics. . . and didn't.
And in many he is responding to our guided by music. Sometimes he suggests a soundtrack for us to listen to as he reads. As a musician, music guides his artistic visions.
Many of these stories are slight, early work, though the artwork is--even then--pretty great. My favorites are "Cakewalk," about a girl who dresses up as Aunt Jemima for Halloween, clueless as to what she is doing; "Like Hell I Will," a brief and painful historical account of the Tulsa massacre of 1921, white Tulsa slaughtering hundreds of black Tulsans because a black kid's stumbling into a white elevator operator got reported as sexual assault; "Conjurers," a sweet story about "conjuring" people and electrification, and the fictional "Villa at the End of the Road," which is emotionally powerful.
I'd call it 3.5, but because so many Goodreads reviewers rate him so low, including on this volume, and I like his work generally so much, I round up to 4.
And in many he is responding to our guided by music. Sometimes he suggests a soundtrack for us to listen to as he reads. As a musician, music guides his artistic visions.
Many of these stories are slight, early work, though the artwork is--even then--pretty great. My favorites are "Cakewalk," about a girl who dresses up as Aunt Jemima for Halloween, clueless as to what she is doing; "Like Hell I Will," a brief and painful historical account of the Tulsa massacre of 1921, white Tulsa slaughtering hundreds of black Tulsans because a black kid's stumbling into a white elevator operator got reported as sexual assault; "Conjurers," a sweet story about "conjuring" people and electrification, and the fictional "Villa at the End of the Road," which is emotionally powerful.
I'd call it 3.5, but because so many Goodreads reviewers rate him so low, including on this volume, and I like his work generally so much, I round up to 4.
May 25, 2015
"Intersecting lives shape each other only to become footnotes"
This is a type of graphic novel I don't usually read. Whenever I finish reading every story in this collection, the stories leave me forlorn. It gives me a sense of longing and sometimes emptiness. The lines are overwhelming and some can pass off as written pieces instead of using the graphic platform.
The artist succeeds in transmitting the ink of his art while bleeding his emotions. The generosity of his inking corroborates the loneliness and darkness of the theme. My favorites are Cakewalk, Conjurers, and Havens Have Nots. The artist's progress through time is visible. In reading this artwork, it feels like the artist doesn't care if you understand him, he just wants you to listen.
This is a type of graphic novel I don't usually read. Whenever I finish reading every story in this collection, the stories leave me forlorn. It gives me a sense of longing and sometimes emptiness. The lines are overwhelming and some can pass off as written pieces instead of using the graphic platform.
The artist succeeds in transmitting the ink of his art while bleeding his emotions. The generosity of his inking corroborates the loneliness and darkness of the theme. My favorites are Cakewalk, Conjurers, and Havens Have Nots. The artist's progress through time is visible. In reading this artwork, it feels like the artist doesn't care if you understand him, he just wants you to listen.
July 2, 2015
Nate Powell is a phenomenal artist! This collection of short pieces covers a lot of ground, but all are worth reading. His stories tend to meander a bit, and are more character studies than plot-driven. He has a wonderfully delicate subtlety to his facial expressions and story beats. My favorites from this book are probably "Cakewalk", "Like Hell I Will", "Conjurers", and "Havens Have Not." But, as I said, the whole book is excellent.
June 16, 2025
Pretentious yet shallow musings of a cringey dude who thinks he is way more interesting and intelligent than he is.
September 25, 2015
'You Don't Say' is a collection of shorter rare and unpublished works by Nate Powell. He's the artist behind 'March' along with other things. Think of this more like a sketchbook and a glimpse into an artist's work and you may like it as much as I did.
The pieces are from the years 2004 to 2013. They are all rather short. There are unfinished ideas, alternates for published works and unpublished works that were done as art exercises. During part of this time frame, Nate worked as a support provider for adults with developmental disabilities, and some of that influences some of the work. Song lyrics feature in quite a few, including one where he challenged himself to use only the song lyrics for dialogue. A couple are from a friend who tells about Halloween in a very white town, and also attending a Santana concert with her father and getting the death stare from Santana himself.
I love his work on March, and he has a great style. The work here is a little looser in style, but that also lets the work meander over the page without boundaries. Some of the stories are a bit harsh, quite a few have a distinct humor to them. All of them feature a paragraph or so from the artist to give context to how they came to be. It's a pretty interesting look at a pretty talented artist and I'm glad I got to read it.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors, Top Shelf Productions, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
The pieces are from the years 2004 to 2013. They are all rather short. There are unfinished ideas, alternates for published works and unpublished works that were done as art exercises. During part of this time frame, Nate worked as a support provider for adults with developmental disabilities, and some of that influences some of the work. Song lyrics feature in quite a few, including one where he challenged himself to use only the song lyrics for dialogue. A couple are from a friend who tells about Halloween in a very white town, and also attending a Santana concert with her father and getting the death stare from Santana himself.
I love his work on March, and he has a great style. The work here is a little looser in style, but that also lets the work meander over the page without boundaries. Some of the stories are a bit harsh, quite a few have a distinct humor to them. All of them feature a paragraph or so from the artist to give context to how they came to be. It's a pretty interesting look at a pretty talented artist and I'm glad I got to read it.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors, Top Shelf Productions, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
October 24, 2020
Nate Powell'ı Yut Beni adlı grafik romanıyla tanıdım. Sakın Söyleme, kısa çizgi hikayelerden oluşuyor, her biri kendi deneyimlerinin bir yansıması olduğu kadar, kurgulanmış hayali dünyaların gizemini okuyucuya izlettiriyor. Birbirine yardım eden insanların karşısında çıkar duygularıyla hareket eden bir dünyanın düşmanları var. Savaş her ikisi arasında ve güzel olan güçlü olan değil, iyimser olan kazanıyor.
Grafik-romanın arka kapağında yazanlar gerçekleşiyor, kafamızda kurduğumuz hayal dünyası önümüze seriliyor: Bir star parlar. Bir topluluk yanar. Ölen bir kadın huzur bulur. Bir çocuğun kalbi kırılır.
Zaman değil, ama biz içimizdeki hikayelerle devam etmek zorundayız. Yaşamak, cesaretle, hayallerle, tutkuyla, yaratmak ve keşfetmek için orada bekliyor.
Grafik-romanın arka kapağında yazanlar gerçekleşiyor, kafamızda kurduğumuz hayal dünyası önümüze seriliyor: Bir star parlar. Bir topluluk yanar. Ölen bir kadın huzur bulur. Bir çocuğun kalbi kırılır.
Zaman değil, ama biz içimizdeki hikayelerle devam etmek zorundayız. Yaşamak, cesaretle, hayallerle, tutkuyla, yaratmak ve keşfetmek için orada bekliyor.
Read
January 23, 2016This is my favorite collection from Nate Powell as yet. I have been a fan of his art for a long time, and have really been enjoying the March series — his work on that series makes more sense to me after reading You Don't Say, which includes a couple of stories that showcase his interest in social justice and race relations. Powell's definitely a thoughtful guy, and it's fascinating to see excerpts that were left out of his larger works in their final drafts.
May 31, 2015
This book sounded like something I would have liked, but instead ] felt very detached from the story and couldn't see the point of what was happening in each chapter . Since I don't enjoy forcing myself to read things that bore me to death, I gave up at 16% .
March 11, 2018
This is one that I just grabbed off the shelf at work one day because I liked the cover, buuuuuut it's really not working for me. It's a bunch of short comics Nate Powell drew between 2004 and 2013, which...you guys know I'm not good at short stories, and apparently I'm not any better at them in graphic form. I made it through the first 4 or 5, but I just feel like I have no idea what the hell Powell was trying to say with any of them. His art is cool, and I like the look of them, but it feels like the stories themselves just never actually go anywhere at all and leave absolutely no impression when they're finished.
Possibly the later ones are better, but I just can't seem to force my way any further through the book to find out.
I'm calling it. Back to the library with you!
Possibly the later ones are better, but I just can't seem to force my way any further through the book to find out.
I'm calling it. Back to the library with you!
April 26, 2022
Çizgi roman okumayı büyük bir keyif olarak gören, veya genellikle beğenmeme huyu olmayan benim için bile okuması keyifsiz geçen nadir çizgi romandı. Kitap yazarın bir çok farklı yaşanılmış veya yaşanılanlardan esinlenerek yazılmış hikayesinden oluşuyor. Bazıları normal bazıları oldukça kısa soluklu hikayeler. Aralarında gerçekten beğendim hikayeler mevcuttu da ama genel olarak kitabın tümüne olan bakış açışımı değiştirecek çoğunluğu yoktu maalesef. Çizimler gayet güzeldi ama özellikle çizgi romanın bazı hikayelerini asla özümseyemedim. Okudum ve hikaye bitiminde "eee peki neydi bu şimdi?" cümlesi yankılandı beynimde adeta. Şu zamana kadar elimde sürüne sürüne okuduğum tek çizgi romandı maalesef. 3 puanı da beğendiğim, gerçekten iyi konusu olan bir kaç hikaye ve çizimleri için veriyorum.
October 6, 2018
Ho👏ly👏cow👏. I know from reading other reviews that these stories didn’t do much for some...but damn did they do something for me. Nate Powell’s voice is poignant and honest and striking, taking wide-scale issues and funneling them into unspeakably ordinary moments. This rare combination comes out in short tales that are both unsettling and also full of homespun empathy with a punk-rock twist. Needless to say...I was into it.
November 11, 2023
I picked this up because I love Powell's artwork. His style is very distinctive, and he is a master of visual storytelling. This is a collection of short stories. Some of them were really powerful, especially "Like Hell I Will," which tells the story of the 1921 Tulsa massacre. This alone is worth picking up the collection.
February 25, 2018
Quite an uneven collection, and more of interest for tracking Powell's growth as a socially conscious artist rather than for literary value. Only 2-3 stories which are good, the rest are too short and middling to leave an impact.
June 14, 2021
This was kind of disjointed for me; maybe not the best first book to read by the author since it seems to be a collection of bits and pieces. I do have another on hold from him that looks really good. I know that I personally prefer single story line graphic formats rather than collections.
September 26, 2017
I disegni sono affrettati, poco ispirati. Le storie non sono affatto memorabili, e si riducono in quei racconti "shoe gazer" filosofeggianti che tanto fanno indipendente noioso. Da evitare.
January 11, 2020
I nearly stopped reading after the first 4-5 stories as I didn't like them at all, but the stories after that are pretty good and I do like the art style.
June 5, 2020
A lot of these short stories were very relatable.
March 25, 2021
Farklı farklı hikayelerden oluşan bir çizgi roman. Bir iki tanesi dışında beğenmedim maalesef. Pek çoğu anlam veremediğim havada kalan hikayeler oldu.
Want to read
April 16, 2021Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.
September 29, 2021
MPA ratings:
R for language
PG-13 for brief nudity
PG for adult themes including a reference to sexual abuse
R for language
PG-13 for brief nudity
PG for adult themes including a reference to sexual abuse
October 27, 2023
Only got through about 75%. Pieced together anda bit random.
January 3, 2019
I didn't put it together that a long-form magical-realist graphic novel and the March series were illustrated by the same person. This, more than that novel or another collection of stories, really shows why it makes sense that Powell worked on the March series; these autobiographical sketches are sort of informal but not bashful about the authors ideals and how he sees his workaday life exercising them, and seeing this work makes the March series and John Lewis's story a natural fit.
December 28, 2015
I received YOU DON'T SAY as an ARC through NetGalley.com.
I'm unfamiliar with Powell's other work, so I came to this book with no preconceptions. I really like his art--it looks a little scribbly and casual, but it's still full of details that draw your eye where it needs to go to understand the visual components of the stories.
The stories themselves...vary. I found the first few, a series of four, especially difficult, but it was more my fault than the author's; it covers some of his early adulthood, and there is a lot of stuff there that reminds me of myself in my late teens and early twenties. Now that I'm in my thirties, the myriad ways in which I've changed over the years make it difficult to remember myself and my peers at that time without a little scorn. It reminds me a little of CATCHER IN THE RYE: you need to read it at just the right point in your life, or it won't resonate and it'll leave you baffled or annoyed.
After that small series, the book is full of short stand-alone comics, each just a few pages long. My favorites were the ones that deal with the issue of race, and with the idea of stories, as well as comics as a form of storytelling. There were pieces in YOU DON'T SAY that I felt like I really didn't get the point of, but they were few enough that the gems are the ones that stand out to me, that I'll remember when someone asks me if I've read this book.
I'm unfamiliar with Powell's other work, so I came to this book with no preconceptions. I really like his art--it looks a little scribbly and casual, but it's still full of details that draw your eye where it needs to go to understand the visual components of the stories.
The stories themselves...vary. I found the first few, a series of four, especially difficult, but it was more my fault than the author's; it covers some of his early adulthood, and there is a lot of stuff there that reminds me of myself in my late teens and early twenties. Now that I'm in my thirties, the myriad ways in which I've changed over the years make it difficult to remember myself and my peers at that time without a little scorn. It reminds me a little of CATCHER IN THE RYE: you need to read it at just the right point in your life, or it won't resonate and it'll leave you baffled or annoyed.
After that small series, the book is full of short stand-alone comics, each just a few pages long. My favorites were the ones that deal with the issue of race, and with the idea of stories, as well as comics as a form of storytelling. There were pieces in YOU DON'T SAY that I felt like I really didn't get the point of, but they were few enough that the gems are the ones that stand out to me, that I'll remember when someone asks me if I've read this book.
August 25, 2015
Nate Powell has been churning out long-form comics ("Swallow Me Whole," "Any Empire," the "MARCH" books, "The Silence Of Our Friends," etc.) at a frantic pace for the last few years. "You Don't Say" collects his shorter works from the past decade or so, most of it previously published, and it seems as though their smaller page counts have given him the freedom to be a bit looser and more experimental. Each story is lyrical and interesting and, since it's Nate Powell, beautifully drawn. A great book for the casual comics reader or, like me, a Powell completist.
FAVORITES:
"The Deck" - A surreal deleted scene from his graphic novel, "Swallow Me Whole."
"The Uncomfortable Gaze Of Carlos Santana" - Written by Nate's wife, Rachel Bormann, her recollection of an awkward experience at a Carlos Santana concert.
"The Villa At The End Of The Road" - A young mother visits her ruined childhood home and has a strange encounter with a former neighbor.
FAVORITES:
"The Deck" - A surreal deleted scene from his graphic novel, "Swallow Me Whole."
"The Uncomfortable Gaze Of Carlos Santana" - Written by Nate's wife, Rachel Bormann, her recollection of an awkward experience at a Carlos Santana concert.
"The Villa At The End Of The Road" - A young mother visits her ruined childhood home and has a strange encounter with a former neighbor.
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