Ashes

by Álvaro Ortiz

Overview

Three old friends reunite for the mother of all road trips! One of Spain’s most brilliant graphic novelists finally makes his English-language debut in this elegantly unpredictable gem.

Polly, Moho, and Piter haven’t seen each other in years. Now they’ve piled into a car for a loooong journey to a mysterious cross marked on a map. All their old personality quirks and conflicts are resurrected with new wrinkles as this surreal reunion gets underway. Up ahead are car chases, alcohol, roadside motels, banjo-playing thugs, a ship graveyard, violence, sensual tension, and, of course, a monkey!

The captivating first graphic novel from internationally renowned cartoonist Álvaro Ortiz is an explosive mix of emotional road movie and hooligan thriller in which nothing is what it seems.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781603095174
Publisher:	IDW Publishing
Publication date:	02/07/2023
Pages:	184
Sales rank:	511,608
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.51(d)

About the Author

Álvaro Ortiz studied graphic design at the Escuela Superior de Diseño de Aragón and illustration at the Escola Massana in Barcelona. After winning several comic competitions, including the 2003 Injuve Comic Award, he has become one of Spain’s most acclaimed cartoonists. After the youth graphic novel series Julia and the Norwegian-themed comic book Fjorden, Ortiz released his debut graphic novel for adults, Cenizas (Ashes), which was created with an Alhóndiga Bilbao grant at the Maison des Auteurs in Angoulême, France. His subsequent works include Murderabilia (2014), Rituales (2015), and Viajes (Astiberri, 2016), as well as a collaboration with the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum and a pair of webcomics created during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ashes is his first book in English.

Editorial Reviews

01/09/2023

In Ortiz’s winning English-language debut, he puts a personal spin on a classic road-trip narrative with a blend of deadpan comedy, philosophizing, and crime-film-style action. Former friends Polly, Moho, and Piter are reunited on a cross-country mission to scatter their friend Hector’s ashes at a mysterious location named in his will. The journey takes them to such eclectic locales as a ship graveyard, a drug dealer’s mansion, and a roadside luchador bar. “The only thing missing was a dwarf and it would be a David Lynch movie,” Piter observes. Along the way, the ensemble reflect on the wrong turns they’ve made in life—even Moho’s pet monkey gets his own flashbacks. Those mistakes threaten to catch up to them in the form of twin goons sent by “the Cowboy” to exact revenge for music critic Moho slandering him. Ortiz’s squiggly, brightly colored art keeps the narrative light even when it veers into dark territory. The pages, densely packed without feeling cramped, set an easygoing visual rhythm appropriate to the characters’ affably rambling adventure. This laid-back, sneakily smart charmer should garner Ortiz a new audience. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

Ortiz’s classic cartoon art style lends itself well to the wacky and surprising elements of his road trip story, while the characters’ reasons for growing apart and coming back together feel true. Ortiz’s English debut will be perfect for fans of Guy Delisle’s work.” —Booklist

“The pages…set an easygoing visual rhythm appropriate to the characters’ affably rambling adventure. This laid-back, sneakily smart charmer should garner Ortiz a new audience.” —Publishers Weekly

"Subtle, lyrical, friendly and funny... An adventure paced like a madcap movie plot, with underlying minor chords." —Library Journal

“A clear contender for best graphic novel of the year.” –IGN

“I’m not sure I could find fault with Ashes if I tried. It was a wonderful reading experience and I’ll be looking forward to Ortiz’s next offering.” –Biff Bam Pop!

“However you describe it, this is one of the most unique graphic novels I’ve had the pleasure to read and I recommend it to everyone.” –Kabooooom!

“Amidst all the comedy and chaos, the story of three old friends reuniting for a purpose hits a sweet spot in our hearts.” –Perfect Turd Podcast

“Funny, emotional, and bursting with adorable monkey shenanigans, Ashes is a charming road trip story about changing friendships.” –The Library Ladies

From the Publisher

01/20/2023

Ortiz's (Viajes) English-language debut is a cinematic road-trip graphic novel with a pervasive, eerie calm. Unlikely compatriots Polly, a perpetual barista; Moho, a mediocre music critic; and Piter, a sullen caregiver, reunite uneasily after an extended estrangement, to follow a fourth, absent friend's map to an unusual locale. As the three ramble along in a junky rental car, Ortiz reveals the passengers' pasts, their intertwined disappointments, and the personal struggles which make their bonds both uneasy and binding. At the same time, their quest places them in increasingly challenging, dangerous, and absurd situations, the most perilous of these involving banjo-strumming hitmen brothers in the employ of a cranky country-music star. At its heart, though surface drama abounds, the story circles around, meditates on, and ultimately admires the trio's mundanity and mortality in a subtle, lyrical fashion. Ortiz's illustrations are friendly and funny, calling to mind Guy Delisle's rich studies of complex characters in light line-drawings. VERDICT An adventure paced like a madcap movie plot, with underlying minor chords of identity and relationship echoing throughout, this is a satisfying introduction to Ortiz's narrative and artistic talents for an English-language audience.—Emilia Packard

Library Journal