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Review: Poems To See By

Nemesis

It is rare when I get a book to review that is not comic book related, or at least part of pop culture.  To be fair we are called Comic Crusaders.  However, on rare occasions, I do get a book that fits in our wheelhouse but is from a different genre altogether.  Poems To See By is just such a book, a fusion of classical and modern poetry re-imagined and illustrated utilizing the comic strip art style of illustrator Julian Peters.

This book was difficult to review because is is so different than the usual fare that crosses my computer screen.  I would not dare to review the poems themselves.  Famous poems written by more famous poets; names like Shelley, Angelou, Dickinson, Cummings and Poe.   You either do or do not enjoy poetry and these particular poets.  If you enjoy poetry then you will be intrigued by this book.  If you do not enjoy poetry this may still be the book for you as the imagery provided may help spark the poem in your brain and endear you to the art form.  Instead, I’m going to review this book on three categories; book composition (the collected works as a whole and how they go together), themes (how the illustrations fit the poems themselves), and illustrations (grading the actual art work itself).

Composition – The books is divided into six sections; “Seeing Yourself”, “Seeing Others”, “Seeing Art”, “Seeing Nature”, “Seeing Time”, and “Seeing Death”.  Each section contains four poems and I find the selection of poems to be varied and apropos for the theme.  Poems such as “Anabel Lee” by Edgar Allen Poe and “Ozymandias” by Shelley perfectly capture the themes of Death and Time respectively.  For those who are fans of Watchmen, it is also illustrative to read the poem that gave rise to Ozymandias and some of the most famous lines in literature.

Themes – By and large I felt that the overall theme of each illustrated poem was appropriate and provided thought provoking imagery to go along with these literary works of art.  However, while some stood head and shoulders above the rest, others failed to meet the tone and tenor of the theme of the poem and the section it found itself in.  “Invictus” by William Hurst Henley and “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden were both wonderfully imagined.  “Buffalo Dusk” by Carl Sandburg was worth the price of admission alone.  However, I must admit I was disappointed with the artistic of interpretation of several poems, “Anabel Lee” by Edgar Allen Poe being the most notable one.

Illustration – I found the illustrations to be excellently done, enjoyable to look at and incredibly varied in both technique and tone as the book wore on.  Peters ability to utilize different drawing styles and mediums was on full display in this book.  However, as I noted above I was dissatisfied with “Anabel Lee” and the whole “Seeing Death” section truth be told.  Here, I felt that Peters let down both himself and the reader by confining himself to an obvious palette of black and white for the entire section and by failing to capture the tone of the section itself in several of his illustrations, most notably the poem by Poe.  This section is the one blemish on what is, otherwise, an admirable and excellent work.

Overall I would say that this is a very good book.  Even though I found the last section of the book unsatisfying, the overall experience was very positive and I still enjoyed the poems themselves in the last section.  I would recommend this book to anyone, especially those who enjoy poetry or want to broaden the horizons and experience either comic art or poetry in a different way.

Composition – 5 of 5 Stars
Themes -  4 of 5 Stars
Illustrations – 4 of 5 Stars

Overall Score – 4.3 of 5 Stars

Illustrator – Julian Peters
Publisher – Plough Publishing House
Featuring Poems by Maya Angelou, Edgar Allen Poe, William Wordsworth, Emily Dickinson, Percy Bysshe Shelley, et al.

POEMS TO SEE BY: A COMIC ARTIST INTERPRETS GREAT POETRY will be in bookstores on March 31, 2020. It“s a perfect book for poetry lovers, reluctant readers, and everyone in between. 

Author Profile

Nemesis
Nemesis is a poet, writer and author of the upcoming novel The Long Game. He is a writer of science fiction and supernatural thrillers. Besides novels and short stories he writes for UK based ASAP Comics developing new stories for Level 8 and OPSEC. Nem is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and tries to bring those experiences into his writing.

He lives and works out of his home in Riverside, California with his wife and three children. When not writing he enjoys reviewing comic books and graphic novels for ComicCrusaders.com and living the Southern California life with his family.
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