The Initiates / Etienne Davodeau

   Everyone stop what you are doing and stop reading whatever comics you're reading and pick up The Initiates and be delighted. It's about comics and about wine and most importantly, about FRIENDSHIP. You heard it here first. Davodeau writes comics, his friend Richard Leroy makes wine, Davodeau asks Leroy if he wants to teach him about the world and process of wine-making, while being taught about the world and process of comics-writing. Cue a year of adventures at various comics conventions, vineyards, publishers, restaurants, and much much more.

   Let's talk about the art: it's lovely. It's perfect. PERFECT I SAY. Take a gander at this here spread:

so moody

   AM I RIGHT? I am constantly astounded by what people can do with black, white, and grey. It's like the art in The Walking Dead, no colour, which is exactly right for the story. I think colour would take away from the story here.

   Here is something I love to see/hear/read about: people who clearly love and are passionate doing what they do. It's a really beautiful thing. I remember seeing a video of David Bowie performing Rebel Rebel  and being blown away by how much he loved what he was doing in that moment. It's the same love and passion that I see in a lot of rock climbers. People who love what they are doing are the people I want to learn from and get to know, even if that just means getting to know thier work. Davodeau is passionate and knowledgeable about comics, Leroy is passionate and knowledgeable about wine, and it definitely comes through in the whole tome. Reading this book made me want to a) read a ton of comics, b) take a wine-tasting course, c) keep a sketchbook, and d) go to France. I put several comic books on hold as they were mentioned in the book, and there's even a bibliography of sorts at the end, listing the books that Davodeau assigned to Leroy for his comics-education.

   Here is something else I love: friendship. It's a strong theme here and I couldn't be happier. This book gets a resounding 10/10 from me. Seriously folks, it's spurring me to action and what more can you ask from a book? I want to gather all my pals with all their specialized knowledge and trade knowledge and experiences with them and teach and be taught and expand my horizons. It's making me think about what I have and what I know and how I can give those things to the people around me. Basically what I'm saying is READ THIS BOOK STAT.

   Here's the David Bowie video because I can't mention it and then not show it to you:


   P.S. for those with an aim to diversify their reading, this is a work in translation by a French author in a non-conventional format! Bam.