Isaac the Pirate: Vol. 2 - The Capital

Isaac le Pirate #3-4

by Christophe Blain, Joe Johnson

After a dicey life of women and drink on tropical isles fueled by robbery and deft pickpocketing, Isaac itches to be back home and find his love of so many years ago, Alice. While he reunites with his now much older father, Alice, and a ‘clean’ life, remain elusive..

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Comic Book

96 pages, Paperback

First published March 30, 2004

About the author

Christophe Blain is a French comic book writer and artist.

Reviews

[Patrick Artazu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Formally, I think the "Isaac the Pirate" series is like a perfect adventure comic, but it does contain a particularly amoral and bleak view of the world.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know what it is about French comics artists/writers. While it's certainly not true of all of them, a lot of them seem to love telling stories about unlikeable people. And infidelity. But they're interesting to read, and Christophe Blain is a marvelous artist so I keep coming back expecting something different. More fool me, or maybe I just need to be less bothered by unsympathetic/less-than-sympathetic protagonists. 3.5 maybe 4 stars. *EDIT* Yes, this is the same review as for volume 1. I was hoping that Isaac would get his s*** together by the end of this book but that's not the kind of book that Blain likes to write.

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't like the art and the story wasn't good enough to carry it.

[Kate Atherton · Rating 4 out of 5]

At long last I have finished 'Isaac the Pirate, vol. 2' and it was phenomenal. The color of Blain's books is enough reason to read them. I am currently coloring a graphic novel and look to the wisdom and technicolor magic of French cartoonists like Blain especially. From DEEP blues and purples of night to pale brown and gold of high noon I could write sonnets to these colors. Beyond the world of color which is VARIED and, the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog - style, I would say uses EVERY color, nearly, in its place, this book is expertly drawn. The use of thin line all the way to deep deep contour shadow (there is a page specifically which shows only the highlights of the characters faces with a pale pink light shining UP) this book is masterful. All of this I expected, having read the first installment of 'Issac the pirate' but, what I did not know was how this story would unfold. The first book, as I remember was much about Issac, the painter, leaving home and falling in with a pirate crew as they travel to far reaches and he paints and draws them. The second book was very different ; Isaac is passed around from pirate crews to soldiers with his frenemy Jack, eventually returning home and hoping to find the life he left behind. The most triumphant part of the story, to me was when Jack found the rest of Isaac's sketchbooks and drawings had been stolen by the captain of the soldiers who had them prisoner and they recovered them! I did not completely see the need for Jack's tragic backstory to be revealed RIGHT before the end of this book....unless, as I THINK Blain is insinuating, there will be more stories.

[Noah Appelbaum · Rating 3 out of 5]

This didn't have the magic of the previous book. Isaac/everyone were all so much worse people in this; it was definitely intriguing, but I was left without much of a sense that I should be rooting for any of the characters. I think this volume really suffers for the lack of Alice; the gross misogynist men feel all the more gross and gratuitous without a female-centric plot arc to bounce back to.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, the art's great.

[Liz Yerby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is there more? I want more.