GLEEM

by Freddy Carrasco

Overview

Enter a future of defiant vitality in GLEEM

Imbued with cyberpunk attitude and in the rebellious tradition of afrofuturism, GLEEM is drawn with a fierce momentum hurtling towards a future world. Carrasco’s distinct cinematic style layers detailed panels and spreads, creating a multiplicity of perspectives, at once dizzying and hypnotic. Vignettes unspool in proximity to our own social realities and expand into the outer layers of possibility. Whether in the club or a robot repair workshop, the characters in these three interconnected stories burst across frames until they practically step off the page.

A boy becomes bored at church with his grandmother until he tries a psychedelic drug. A group of friends are told that they need a rare battery if they want any chance of reviving their friend. Street style and cybernetics meet and burst into riotous dancing. Kindness and violence might not be as distant from each other as we think. GLEEM unsettles with a confidence that could make you believe in anything.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781770467101
Publisher:	Drawn & Quarterly
Publication date:	04/16/2024
Pages:	216
Sales rank:	153,781
Product dimensions:	8.20(w) x 5.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Freddy Carrasco is a Dominican-born artist from Toronto, Canada. His multidisciplinary practice encompasses comics, illustration, painting, sculpture, and music. He is currently living in Tokyo, working on his first solo exhibition and the follow up to the award-winning graphic novel GLEEM.

Editorial Reviews

Nobody's doing space and time the way Freddy Carrasco does.” —Michael DeForge

“GLEEM is a peek into the dazzling, euphoric world of one of the generation's most influential voices.” —Chaz Bear

“Many Western artists draw inspiration from manga, but far fewer successfully adapt the form to Western milieus. Frank Miller and Moebius are two; Carrasco is another.” —Sam Thielman, The New York Times

“An Afro-futuristic world where the kids are alright but looking for more… Throughout GLEEM, narratives and images blur into one another, making you look again and again, longer and more intently each time.” —Hyperallergic

“Dynamic cyberpunk in a Taiyō Matsumoto veil [where] Blackness exists in a dangerous place outside the security of citizenship—in the real world.” —The Comics Beat

From the Publisher

03/01/2024

Gr 10 Up—Carrasco presents a collection here that covers themes of boredom, loss, and escapism, but does so primarily through the art. Two simple words begin this journey: "Born Again." With that title, readers might assume a church setting in this first story, and they would be right, but there is something hidden in this megachurch full of flash and flare. What a young boy finds under the pew will change his current religious experience from boredom to bliss. The second tale, "Swing," presents a future where robots have seamlessly integrated with humans, even being considered family, though the tale is dark and violent in nature. Vibrant colors leap off the page in "Hard Body," the wordless third tale, about a group of stylistic and energetic people enjoying a night of dancing in the club. Have you ever seen a piece of art that, upon first glance, confuses you and causes you to look deeper, not only into the piece, but into yourself? The art leads the storytelling, with words seemingly added as an afterthought, merely providing context to help the reader connect more emotionally. It raises the question, "should more graphic novels convey their messages on art alone?" VERDICT A showcase of Carrasco's kinetic art. While some may not completely understand it, the passion of his visuals and storytelling shine through to create a thought-provoking work of modern art.—Adam Fisher

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