Last Look (Pantheon Graphic Library)

I've read a few "meh" reviews on Last Look and honestly just don't understand it. I love Burns' "Black Hole" and it still stands as one of my favorite pieces of art in any medium. Last Look doesn't quite reach it's heights, but it gets close.The story is personal and affecting. You will feel for the main character and it is easy to see parts of yourself in him at certain moments. There are some more cerebral and psychedelic aspects to the book, sure, but not too much. The story is easy to follow, paced incredibly well, and emotionally devastating. The art is spectacular and full of color.I do wish there were a hardcover version, but the paperback doesn't feel cheap and flimsy. All around a good package containing a great story from one of our generations best storytellers.Highly recommended.

You can't beat Charles Burns. Black Hole changed my life and is one of my favorite books of all time. This was my next exploration of his work and it did not disappoint in any sense. Not only is his illustration style the boldest, but his narratives are the perfect blend of psychological damnation, hallucinogenic terror, self-deprication, and always an ultimately surreal expression of the pain that comes along with love and attraction. I'm with Burns for life.

This is certainly not a book I would have picked up on my own, but it was required reading for a class so here we are. This graphic novel was weird, but I liked the way the mystery unfolded. The big reveal of the mystery, however, was disappointing. I liked the main character all right at the beginning, but as the story unfolded and we learned more about him, I began to dislike him more and more. I don't know what the complete opposite of character growth is called. Character deterioration, perhaps? But that's Doug. Overall, I would have to say this book was not my cup of tea, but I appreciated the effort.

Nice artwork. Very dull dialogue and a tale that is drawn out and winds all over the place. Just not my taste in story-telling. I literally couldn't wait to put the book down as it's physically so heavy! Had this one for over a year before being able to get through it, so obviously was not for me.

Burns at his best. His artwork remains just as crisp and stylish as ever, but is now matched with a deeply ambitious and personal story. This is the kind of stuff that hangs around in your head for quite a while after you finish it. Only wish there was a hardcover version!

A dark and facinating fever-dream of a novel. I love the parallel structure of the stories: the Tin-Tin fantasy, the presumed real-world, and the 1950s romance novel. A uncompromising work of art. Horrible and wonderful at the same time. Worth reading and re-reading.

A great presentation of some of Burns' finest work.

One of the best works of sequential art ever.

If there's a problem with 'Last Look' is that it should be explained that it's a compilation of 'E'xd Out' and 'The Hive', two separate books - I bought 'E'xd Out' thinking it was a different story but that's the first point. The second point is it is so carefully drawn and printed that it seems to be a work of complete brilliance as an artistic form but man, it's weirder than David Lynch or even Salvador Dali. This is an incredible and yet darkly frightening comic book which I found to be very funny but the only way I could describe it is to say it's 'Tin-Tin On Acid'. It's both fascinating due to the expression and accuracy depicted but could be difficult to explain in a brief review. Charles Burns is an acquired taste and not everyone is going to find his work acceptable but I tend to view it with humour - I'm hoping that someone would not get offended by 'Last Look' but it's difficult to tell - I found it brilliant and also similar to 'Lost Highway', albeit in comic form.

What a great read. I'd highly recommend to anyone

All good!

Geich zu Beginn schon stürzt Burns den Leser in ein grotesk-surreal anmutendes Szenario, bei dem mir Jeffrey Beaumonts zutreffend lakonischer Satz in Lynchs BLUE VELVET in den Sinn kommt:It's a strange world!Zunächst mag man gar nicht glauben, dass die Story sich am Ende klären, "dechiffrierbar" werden wird.Überhaupt gibt es Parallelen zwischen den beiden Liebesgeschichten, die so sonderbare Wege gehen, dazu kommt eine Prise GEFÄHRLICHE FREUNDIN. Vor allem aber ist LAST LOOK die Geschichte einer Schuld, eines Versagens.LAST LOOK ist verstörend, sehr, düster, sehr, nicht gewillt, sich beim Leser einzuschmeicheln; und wie bei BLUE VELVET kontrastieren idyllische Bilder mit brutalen, wird ein naiver Held durch Abgründe geprügelt, die fremd und doch furchtbar real sind.Ich mag es gelegentlich gern düster und Black Hole ist für mich eine der besten Graphic Novels, aber LAST LOOK hat mich beim Lesen in punkto Unbehagen schon sehr gefordert. Ich tue mich schwer zu sagen, ob es über BLACK HOLE hinaus geht, "besser" oder "verstörender" ist, aber fest steht, dass Burns, inzwischen jenseits der 60, kein bißchen altersmilde geworden ist und immer noch die Hölle des Heranwachsens kartografiert.Und wenn sich schließlich gegen Ende herausstellt, dass LAST LOOK nicht nur ein Kaleidoskop des Schreckens ist, sondern eine sehr menschliche, sehr berührende Geschichte erzählt, dann steht für mich fest:Charles Burns hat einmal mehr eine Ausnahme-Graphic Novel vorgelegt, die das Potenzial der Gattung zeigt, es qualitativ mit großen Romane aufnehmen zu können.Volle Punktzahl, besser geht es nicht!

En cuanto al vendedor, todo ok. En cuanto al libro, no es ni de cerca lo mejor que he leído de Burns, ni en historia ni en ilustración. Incluso siendo un gran admirador de su trabajo de ilustración en este libro utiliza algunos recursos muy malos (como nubes que parecen hechas con la herramienta de pintar spray del Paint). No puede decirse que sea malo pero esperaba bastante mas.