Masochists

by Nick Bertozzi

The Masochists is a dramatic look at obsession, an examination of isolation, and a eulogy for three people slowly crushing everything good out of their lives. "Passing Out", the first story in The Masochists, delves into the torturous world of adolescent pecking orders in which a boy is forced into an act of self-humiliation. The simultaneous destructive and redemptive quality of music-making in "U.V.Katastrophe" follows the central character on his journey out of an artistic dead-end and into his redemption, through a surreal rock concert. The rhythms of "5/4" are made up of the beats of compulsion self-mutilation and the very short distance between art and obsession. The Masochists, an unflinching look at human behavior, will sit well with those intrigued by the early humanist dramas of Fellini or Kurosawa.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Short Stories

128 pages, Paperback

First published June 29, 2001

Reviews

[Peacegal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Many of the stories were muddled and hard-to-follow. The best comic was the final one...it was sick and disturbing, but memorable.

[r. fay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Harsh and bleak and inconsequential. Last story seems so out of place, it almost feels like a fuck-you to the reader. Interesting stuff for sure

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty brutal set of short stories about pretty unpleasant people. The last one is especially harrowing.

[Bunny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard to follow

[Lorra · Rating 2 out of 5]

really depressing, really quick read - good enough graphics and stories but no "oomph" at all, unless it's from the absolute horrific shit in the last story :(