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Eyra Toggenburg Reviews

Eyra Toggenburg in Egypt.

 

An absolutely brilliant and original take on the form of sequential comic strip art!

 

Following the adventures of lone Victorian female explorer Eyra Toggenburg, the story unfolds through a series of beautifully illustrated panels. Told totally without any dialogue, the experience is rather like watching a fast moving silent movie serial in comic strip form, which fits in rather well with the period

setting.

 

The artwork is very stylized and original, the main character very well realized and the detail in some of the panels is breath-taking. The colouring is crisp and clear and done in such a way as to compliment the illustrations perfectly.

 

The visual narrative cracks on at a tremendous pace and never lets up for a second. Some of the perilous situations that our heroine finds herself in are both gripping and humorous, and the clever and intelligent methods that she employs to extricate herself sometimes border on true genius!

 

In between the ‘action’ there are moments of pure British eccentricity as Eyra stops to enjoy a session of calisthenics and to partake of good old fashioned cup of tea!

 

I would thoroughly recommend this graphic novel to anyone. It is a very entertaining and fun filled piece of work and is perfectly suitable for readers of all ages. At 62 pages long, with an average 12 panels per page, it is also excellent value for money!

Eyra Toggenburg and the Secret Library

 

The epitome of visual stotytelling

 

Another astounding piece of work by the inimitable Ri Largo. This is the  second of the Eyra Toggenburg books that I have read and I found it as thoroughly entertaining as the first (Eyra Toggenburg : In Egypt).

 

These volumes each follow one of the wonderful adventures of the intrepid Mrs Toggenburg, a victorian explorer with a penchant for getting herself into (and out of!) the stickiest situations.

 

There is a real sense of charm and wonderment about these stories and they sort of put me in mind of Georges Remi’s Tin Tin series which is quite a compliment in itself.

 

With an average of 12 panels per page you get a lot of art for your money and the visuals are astounding. The story flows in such an effortless  manner that you get swept along and find yourself forgetting that this is a tale told totally without dialogue!

 

These are works for aficionados of good old fashioned fun, whimsy, and nostalgic rip-roaring adventure. I for one am hooked on the work of Mr Largo and can’t wait to read the next one!

Eyra Toggenburg Roman in the Park

 

A charming adventure!

 

Another entertaining and very humourous Graphic Novel by the talented writer and illustrator Ri Largo.

 

This particular tale follows his indefatigable heroine Eyra Toggenburg as she finds herself trapped underground amidst the long forgotten ruins of an ancient Roman settlement. While down there she gets herself into all sorts of bizarre and perilous situations, my favourite being a hilarious sequence featuring some strange ‘magic mushrooms’ which has to be seen to be believed!

 

Look out also for a steampunk style Victorian exploration vehicle which could have come straight out of a Jules Verne adventure.

 

The artwork, as always is very crisp and clean and tells the story in a very painstaking, no nonsense manner. The main character is exceptionally well drawn and her surroundings always look very authentic to the time period they represent.

 

There is a very real sense of enchantment and wonder about these stories and I would heartily recommend them to anyone, young or old

 

Eyra Toggenburg: First Victorian on the Moon

 

An astounding piece of work!

 

As the title suggests, in this adventure our intrepid heroine takes a rocket trip into space and gets herself into all sorts of scrapes as she descends beneath the surface of the moon. This story contains all of Mr Largo's trademark elements: - a clever and unusual story told totally without any dialogue, multi-panel pages, quirky, knockabout humour, bizarre situations, great characterization, and above all amazing artwork.

 

Indeed, it is in the visuals that this book differs slightly from Ms. Toggenburg’s previous outings, for whereas the foreground detail and characters are drawn in Mr Largo's inimitable 'house' style, the panel backdrops have all been rendered as very original three dimensional graphics. These are very colourful and well-crafted and really help to make the illustrations leap from the page.

 

The story itself is very reminiscent of the work of both Jules Verne or H.G.Wells and has a rather quaint, period flavor which I imagine is what the author was aiming for. It truly does capture the wonder and excitement of exploration in the steam age.

 

Initially, new readers may find it strange that there is no words of dialogue but as you get into it and follow the narrative by observing the panels you realise that you don't actually need them. The pictures tell the tale themselves.

 

I found this to be another excellent piece of work and I look forward to the next one!

 

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