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Blood of the Virgin
“A story about storytelling...Conjures up the grindhouse movie-making scene in 1970s Los Angeles and tracks an ambitious young man’s flailing attempts to build a family and a career as a film arteest in that debased world...A book with a lot of heart.” —Art Spiegelman, bestselling author of MAUS
Fourteen years in the making, renowned and beloved graphic novelist Sammy Harkham finally delivers his epic story of artistic ambition, the heartbreak it can bring, and what it means to be human
YOU CAN BURN IN HELL
Set primarily in Los Angeles in 1971, Blood of the Virgin is the story of twenty‑seven‑year‑old Seymour, an Iraqi Jewish immigrant film editor who works for an exploitation film production company. Sammy Harkham brings us into the underbelly of Los Angeles during a crucial evolutionary moment in the industry from the last wheeze of the studio system to the rise of independent filmmaking.
Seymour, his wife, and their new baby struggle as he tries to make it in the movie business, writing screenplays on spec and pining for the chance to direct. When his boss buys one of his scripts for a project called Blood of the Virgin and gives Seymour the chance to direct it, what follows is a surreal, tragicomic making-of journey. As Seymour’s blind ambition propels the movie, his home life grows increasingly fraught. The film’s production becomes a means to spiral out into time and space, resulting in an epic graphic novel that explores the intersection of twentieth‑century America, parenthood, sex, the immigrant experience, the dawn of early Hollywood, and, shockingly, the Holocaust.
Like a cosmic kaleidoscope, Blood of the Virgin shifts and evolves with each panel, widening its context as the story unfolds, building an intricate web of dreams and heartbreak, allowing the reader to zoom in to the novel’s the bittersweet cost of coming into one’s own.
Fourteen years in the making, renowned and beloved graphic novelist Sammy Harkham finally delivers his epic story of artistic ambition, the heartbreak it can bring, and what it means to be human
YOU CAN BURN IN HELL
Set primarily in Los Angeles in 1971, Blood of the Virgin is the story of twenty‑seven‑year‑old Seymour, an Iraqi Jewish immigrant film editor who works for an exploitation film production company. Sammy Harkham brings us into the underbelly of Los Angeles during a crucial evolutionary moment in the industry from the last wheeze of the studio system to the rise of independent filmmaking.
Seymour, his wife, and their new baby struggle as he tries to make it in the movie business, writing screenplays on spec and pining for the chance to direct. When his boss buys one of his scripts for a project called Blood of the Virgin and gives Seymour the chance to direct it, what follows is a surreal, tragicomic making-of journey. As Seymour’s blind ambition propels the movie, his home life grows increasingly fraught. The film’s production becomes a means to spiral out into time and space, resulting in an epic graphic novel that explores the intersection of twentieth‑century America, parenthood, sex, the immigrant experience, the dawn of early Hollywood, and, shockingly, the Holocaust.
Like a cosmic kaleidoscope, Blood of the Virgin shifts and evolves with each panel, widening its context as the story unfolds, building an intricate web of dreams and heartbreak, allowing the reader to zoom in to the novel’s the bittersweet cost of coming into one’s own.
296 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews
April 17, 2024
Pathetic and shitty people live out their pathetic and shitty lives working for a B movie studio in the 1970s making a slapdash horror film. The most pathetic is a film editor named Seymour who has aspirations of writing and directing his own film but will compromise to get ahead at almost every opportunity. Mostly though, he's doing the midlife crisis thing, getting drunk and high, butting heads with his wife and sleeping around on her.
The book has a couple of big digressions, first to the 1910s with some early filmmakers who play no role in the rest of the story and then to the 1940s to give a Holocaust backstory to a secondary character who also has minimal impact in the main tale. They're not bad stories on their own, but just feel like filler here, dragging out this already overlong and tedious graphic novel.
I had passed up on reading this book previously but gave it a go because it made Publisher Weekly's list of best graphic novels of 2023. I should have stuck with my gut reaction.
The book has a couple of big digressions, first to the 1910s with some early filmmakers who play no role in the rest of the story and then to the 1940s to give a Holocaust backstory to a secondary character who also has minimal impact in the main tale. They're not bad stories on their own, but just feel like filler here, dragging out this already overlong and tedious graphic novel.
I had passed up on reading this book previously but gave it a go because it made Publisher Weekly's list of best graphic novels of 2023. I should have stuck with my gut reaction.
July 13, 2023
The kind of book that makes you want to say shit like “an accomplishment” and “magnum opus” and “triumph of the medium,” even as one of its central tasks is to deromanticize artmaking. Art about art tends to get a little navelgazey for my tastes, but Sammy Harkam’s humbling story of a 1970s b-movie production lurches away from one artist’s struggle toward an unforgiving, unmoored view of mass narratives in the 20th century. Its scope makes it almost one of a kind. And it doesn’t hurt that Harkham’s craft is masterful, his storytelling instincts ringing emotionally true and often genuinely funny.
Blood of the Virgin is a beautifully designed hardbound volume that collects six issues published over the span of a decade (four of which I’d already read). To read them all together is a breathtaking experience – odd narrative detours almost merge, images recur without aplomb, history does and doesn’t repeat itself. I cried, I giggled. It’s hard to believe the tonal control: For a book that opens with a splash page of an onscreen knife-wielding big-tiddy zombie and later chronicles a minor character’s experience of the Holocaust, it’s all surprisingly understated.
The central narrative follows Seymour, an aspiring director, as he juggles artistic ambition with a newborn and unhappy wife. Almost immediately, it’s understood that a drama about a dissatisfied family man is emotionally threadbare, or at least run through, so Harkham colors it with sympathetic contempt for Seymour’s immaturity, and shifts the perspective to his wife Ida’s and others. The comic is deepened by its dry sense of humor and vigilant attention to detail: the idiosyncratic minutiae of family scenes, the neon signs of the times, his would-be breakthrough movie’s budget-constrained improvisations.
Its cartoon world is a living, breathing space, and – despite its exaggerated style (think Fleischer and Herge) – steeped in the material reality of 1970s Los Angeles. This historicity is contrasted with the weird ahistorical Gothic vibe of the titular werewolf (?) horror movie our protagonist is helming. As visual languages, horror and humor go hand in hand – sight gags and jump scares alike rely on a first glance to jolt the nervous system into visceral reaction. At their most efficient, comics transmit meaning wordlessly.
Similarly, comics and movies share visual language. In one deceptively simple sequence, the grammar of film editing is explained by a veteran Hollywood producer at the same time it’s shown to us by Harkham’s representation of the dialogue (“cut on the action”). This scene takes place in the only full-color chapter, a devastating rags-to-riches biography of a ranch hand set during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Still, I promise, understated.
In the end, nothing coheres, catharsis is postponed or premature, everything is subject to the impartiality of time – something incomplete, shot on reused sets, playing to a distracted audience that might notice the occasional flickers of invention. Blood of the Virgin is a masterwork of the medium. A masterwork is futile, or at least compromised, in the face of atrocity and dominant culture. The creative act at least holds power in its instant. A reminder. Really we’re surviving, and trying to remember how to love.
Blood of the Virgin is a beautifully designed hardbound volume that collects six issues published over the span of a decade (four of which I’d already read). To read them all together is a breathtaking experience – odd narrative detours almost merge, images recur without aplomb, history does and doesn’t repeat itself. I cried, I giggled. It’s hard to believe the tonal control: For a book that opens with a splash page of an onscreen knife-wielding big-tiddy zombie and later chronicles a minor character’s experience of the Holocaust, it’s all surprisingly understated.
The central narrative follows Seymour, an aspiring director, as he juggles artistic ambition with a newborn and unhappy wife. Almost immediately, it’s understood that a drama about a dissatisfied family man is emotionally threadbare, or at least run through, so Harkham colors it with sympathetic contempt for Seymour’s immaturity, and shifts the perspective to his wife Ida’s and others. The comic is deepened by its dry sense of humor and vigilant attention to detail: the idiosyncratic minutiae of family scenes, the neon signs of the times, his would-be breakthrough movie’s budget-constrained improvisations.
Its cartoon world is a living, breathing space, and – despite its exaggerated style (think Fleischer and Herge) – steeped in the material reality of 1970s Los Angeles. This historicity is contrasted with the weird ahistorical Gothic vibe of the titular werewolf (?) horror movie our protagonist is helming. As visual languages, horror and humor go hand in hand – sight gags and jump scares alike rely on a first glance to jolt the nervous system into visceral reaction. At their most efficient, comics transmit meaning wordlessly.
Similarly, comics and movies share visual language. In one deceptively simple sequence, the grammar of film editing is explained by a veteran Hollywood producer at the same time it’s shown to us by Harkham’s representation of the dialogue (“cut on the action”). This scene takes place in the only full-color chapter, a devastating rags-to-riches biography of a ranch hand set during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Still, I promise, understated.
In the end, nothing coheres, catharsis is postponed or premature, everything is subject to the impartiality of time – something incomplete, shot on reused sets, playing to a distracted audience that might notice the occasional flickers of invention. Blood of the Virgin is a masterwork of the medium. A masterwork is futile, or at least compromised, in the face of atrocity and dominant culture. The creative act at least holds power in its instant. A reminder. Really we’re surviving, and trying to remember how to love.
April 13, 2023
Obra maestra.
June 24, 2023
Thank you to Pantheon for providing me with a copy of this book.
I was honestly surprised I didn't like this. I'm a big fan of horror, and this book was rife with references to pre-70's horror, from Universal monsters to wacky grindhouse studio schedules. I think my main issue was my dislike of all the characters. Seymour and his wife were incredibly unlikeable. Their baby's one personality trait was screaming incessantly. I also thought the book would focus more on the movie Blood of the Virgin since it was the title of the book and Seymour's passion project. Instead, we only get references to what it might be about throughout shooting. The rest of the book focuses on Seymour and his wife's disaster of a life.
I read on the internet that this was part of a serial published over 14 years. I think this is why the narrative came off as disjointed to me. It's hard to be merciful, however, when most other serials I've read are much better at conveying a cohesive story over a long period of time. Additionally, the art just wasn't that good.
Overall, I don't think I can recommend this. Unless you're already a fan of Sammy Harkham's work, I would take a pass on this.
I was honestly surprised I didn't like this. I'm a big fan of horror, and this book was rife with references to pre-70's horror, from Universal monsters to wacky grindhouse studio schedules. I think my main issue was my dislike of all the characters. Seymour and his wife were incredibly unlikeable. Their baby's one personality trait was screaming incessantly. I also thought the book would focus more on the movie Blood of the Virgin since it was the title of the book and Seymour's passion project. Instead, we only get references to what it might be about throughout shooting. The rest of the book focuses on Seymour and his wife's disaster of a life.
I read on the internet that this was part of a serial published over 14 years. I think this is why the narrative came off as disjointed to me. It's hard to be merciful, however, when most other serials I've read are much better at conveying a cohesive story over a long period of time. Additionally, the art just wasn't that good.
Overall, I don't think I can recommend this. Unless you're already a fan of Sammy Harkham's work, I would take a pass on this.
Shelved as 'dnf'
January 2, 2024Hard to read and also boring.
May 4, 2023
A masterpiece of the comic medium right up there with Maus, From Hell, Love and Rockets, Persepolis, Blackhole, etc. Definitely my favorite read of the year so far. This is sort of the equivalent of Boogie Nights but for the grind house film industry in the early 70's. Harkham is a master of storytelling, dialogue, and characters. There's so much heart in this comic. I can't wait to read it again.
April 30, 2023
A look at the 1970s exploitation film industry in Los Angeles, seen through the eyes of a man named Seymour. Seymour is a film editor and script writer, 27 years old, and an Iraqi Jew who immigrated to the US. His dream is to direct his own film and he gets that chance when one of his scripts, "Blood of the Virgin" is purchased and he is chosen to direct his vision. This book explores the making of the film, but also its effects on Seymour and his young family. I felt every moment of Seymour's frustration with the industry and his personal life in this incredible graphic novel, and the illustrations are absolutely gorgeous, capturing Seymour's daily life along with the production of the film.
October 30, 2023
Blood of the Virgin has all the hallmarks of an "indie comic." It's a big, dense read filled with weird characters and a loose, sad plot. There are several lengthy excursions into another story entirely. The driving force of the primary story is barely defined: family, ambition, anxiety, ownership. The book sucks you in even as if never quite gels into coherency.
We mostly follow Seymour, an aspiring horror-schlock writer/director, and his wife/new mom, Ida. One of Seymour's scripts has finally caught on, but the filmmaking process is a litany of disappointments. Home life with a new baby is equally exhausting. Seymour finds solace in weird nights out drinking while Ida suffers at home before eventually decamping back to New Zealand, where her family is from.
Amidst all this, we tangle with a Holocaust narrative (bleak!) and an odd cowboy-turned-movie-mogul pastiche. The book's several sections are ill-defined, mostly just a series of depressing escapades.
And yet, it's all incredibly engaging. The artwork is dreamy and appealing. The dialogue is dense and realistic. Blood of the Virgin is simply an overwhelming read. I can't quite say that I enjoyed it, but I kept finding myself pulled back to it.
We mostly follow Seymour, an aspiring horror-schlock writer/director, and his wife/new mom, Ida. One of Seymour's scripts has finally caught on, but the filmmaking process is a litany of disappointments. Home life with a new baby is equally exhausting. Seymour finds solace in weird nights out drinking while Ida suffers at home before eventually decamping back to New Zealand, where her family is from.
Amidst all this, we tangle with a Holocaust narrative (bleak!) and an odd cowboy-turned-movie-mogul pastiche. The book's several sections are ill-defined, mostly just a series of depressing escapades.
And yet, it's all incredibly engaging. The artwork is dreamy and appealing. The dialogue is dense and realistic. Blood of the Virgin is simply an overwhelming read. I can't quite say that I enjoyed it, but I kept finding myself pulled back to it.
February 18, 2024
Al estilo de la película Babylon pero de películas de terror de serie B. Un retrato de una época y una ciudad (Los Ángeles) que desde sus inicios ya estaba maldita y corrompida.
September 12, 2023
I think this might be case of just “this wasn’t for me” which sucks cuz I was really excited for it and felt the premise was right up my alley.
But idk this just felt disjointed to me. There were definitely moments where I was really pulled in. One character monologue in particular stands out.
I also very, very much think this story doesn’t use the unique lens of Seymour being an Iraqi Jewish immigrant nearly enough, most especially because without that lens, there’s very little that’s unique about this story.
This graphic novel started out pretty strong; however, ultimately I just feel like this wasn’t focused enough for me, and the two interludes kinda felt really tacked on.
It’s also very possible though, that I just didn’t ~get~ it, and I hope there are people that do and love this because I like graphic novels and want more representation for them.
But idk this just felt disjointed to me. There were definitely moments where I was really pulled in. One character monologue in particular stands out.
I also very, very much think this story doesn’t use the unique lens of Seymour being an Iraqi Jewish immigrant nearly enough, most especially because without that lens, there’s very little that’s unique about this story.
This graphic novel started out pretty strong; however, ultimately I just feel like this wasn’t focused enough for me, and the two interludes kinda felt really tacked on.
It’s also very possible though, that I just didn’t ~get~ it, and I hope there are people that do and love this because I like graphic novels and want more representation for them.
September 7, 2023
Sammy Harkham's comix messterpiece Blood of the Virgin is a kaleidoscope of hi-jinks, heartbreak, and broken dreams in the 1970s b-movie biz. Fans of Charlie Kaufman movies, Art Spiegelman (Maus), and Dan Clowes (Ghost World) will wanna check this out.
September 27, 2023
I’d give the art work 5 starts and the story just 3. I found it very confusing and it didn’t really hang together. For example, what was wrong with Ida’s sister? Why did she hit Ida? Why did Seymour get beaten up. Beautiful at times but also very odd.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
March 10, 2024Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
What will we make of this one, I wonder.
What will we make of this one, I wonder.
January 19, 2024
This sucked.
Read
April 3, 2024Perhaps the thing I like most about Sammy Harkham’s work is what I perceive as a sort of off-kilter stillness. I don’t know if other readers feel this rhythm, but to me it’s as if Harkham is drawing on the off-beat, or that his narrative somehow moves between each beat of his characters’ hearts. Over the years Harkham has evolved into a superb cartoonist—his recognizable style an America ligne clair influenced by classic strip artists like Roy Crane and Frank King—but I find his visual pacing is what most distinguishes him.
Harkham is, of course, best known as editor of Kramer’s Ergot, a publication which could easily be called the most significant and influential American comics anthology since RAW. Where Spiegelman and Mouly successfully highbrow-ified their generation of Underground and European cartoonists, Harkham has essentially defined a post-brow canon of GenX/Millennial cartoonists such as Gabrielle Bell, Mat Brinkman, Jordan Crane, Kevin Huizinga, Anders Nilsen, Lauren Weinstein, and Lale Westvind. (If you can track down copies of Kramer’s, especially the huge #7, you will be a happy reader.)
Harkham’s new book, Blood of the Virgin, ran in serial form in Kramer’s as well as in his personal comic book Crickets. BotV, an impressive 300-page saga, is ostensibly about movie-making in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the studio system was giving way to the rise of independent filmmaking. But the movies here are not Hollywood blockbusters, and there’s none of the sexy slapdash of Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. BotV’s protagonist, Seymour, works deep in the schlock world of “grindhouse” cinema, and even then far from the shops that produced auteurs like Roger Corman and George Romero. Seymour’s days and nights are spent thanklessly attempting to splice together films from garbage B-reels while hoping for a break that the reader quickly realizes is unlikely ever to come.
I wrote “ostensibly about movie-making” above, because I think the real themes of BotV are deeper and more complicated: the human drive and need to create; the demands and expectations of our personal and business relationships; the problematics of identity; how we deal with adversity; the accommodations we make for the people we love, and the excuses we make for ourselves; the perils of making money; and the cruel fact that even a happy life is full of sorrows and frustrations. And more—I’ve enjoyed talking about this book with friends who resonate with entirely different themes, including the weight of history, the different facets of Jewishness, and the silent sacrifices of wives and mothers. Indeed, while Seymour is the protagonist of this book it’s his wife Ida who is the hero. She’s merely a supporting character for much of the book (and, sadly, in Seymour’s own eyes), but the end she gets her own story and even provides the book’s heart of hope: that everything will be OK even if the journey is tough.
Many of us first took note of Harkham’s work via “Poor Sailor,” a wordless story in Kramer’s Ergot that was later published as a tiny book, one panel per page. The reformatting even further emphasized the off-kilter stillness I noted above. The book’s title is an understatement: the titular character endures a Job-like life, one misfortune piling atop the next. Seymour’s life is less a parable, less relentlessly tragic, and more fully and realistically psychologically detailed than the poor sailor’s. And in the end, there is a redemption of sorts, one far less melodramatic than the fantastic movies Seymour loves, but one more like real life.
Harkham is, of course, best known as editor of Kramer’s Ergot, a publication which could easily be called the most significant and influential American comics anthology since RAW. Where Spiegelman and Mouly successfully highbrow-ified their generation of Underground and European cartoonists, Harkham has essentially defined a post-brow canon of GenX/Millennial cartoonists such as Gabrielle Bell, Mat Brinkman, Jordan Crane, Kevin Huizinga, Anders Nilsen, Lauren Weinstein, and Lale Westvind. (If you can track down copies of Kramer’s, especially the huge #7, you will be a happy reader.)
Harkham’s new book, Blood of the Virgin, ran in serial form in Kramer’s as well as in his personal comic book Crickets. BotV, an impressive 300-page saga, is ostensibly about movie-making in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the studio system was giving way to the rise of independent filmmaking. But the movies here are not Hollywood blockbusters, and there’s none of the sexy slapdash of Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. BotV’s protagonist, Seymour, works deep in the schlock world of “grindhouse” cinema, and even then far from the shops that produced auteurs like Roger Corman and George Romero. Seymour’s days and nights are spent thanklessly attempting to splice together films from garbage B-reels while hoping for a break that the reader quickly realizes is unlikely ever to come.
I wrote “ostensibly about movie-making” above, because I think the real themes of BotV are deeper and more complicated: the human drive and need to create; the demands and expectations of our personal and business relationships; the problematics of identity; how we deal with adversity; the accommodations we make for the people we love, and the excuses we make for ourselves; the perils of making money; and the cruel fact that even a happy life is full of sorrows and frustrations. And more—I’ve enjoyed talking about this book with friends who resonate with entirely different themes, including the weight of history, the different facets of Jewishness, and the silent sacrifices of wives and mothers. Indeed, while Seymour is the protagonist of this book it’s his wife Ida who is the hero. She’s merely a supporting character for much of the book (and, sadly, in Seymour’s own eyes), but the end she gets her own story and even provides the book’s heart of hope: that everything will be OK even if the journey is tough.
Many of us first took note of Harkham’s work via “Poor Sailor,” a wordless story in Kramer’s Ergot that was later published as a tiny book, one panel per page. The reformatting even further emphasized the off-kilter stillness I noted above. The book’s title is an understatement: the titular character endures a Job-like life, one misfortune piling atop the next. Seymour’s life is less a parable, less relentlessly tragic, and more fully and realistically psychologically detailed than the poor sailor’s. And in the end, there is a redemption of sorts, one far less melodramatic than the fantastic movies Seymour loves, but one more like real life.
May 25, 2023
Somehow, all the things I love (i.e. film-making, camp, horror, LA in the 70s, great artwork, intergenerational trauma, etc.) were mixed together in this book and yet I was bored to tears by it. Reading this felt like watching a couple of seasons of an HBO prestige television series which is probably why I didn’t like it. That isn’t to say it’s not a masterpiece, because it most certainly is, however, this just didn’t do it for me.
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October 4, 2023Fell in love Harkham's art style after stumbling across Poor Sailor a couple years back. Adored that book, one of the best and most underrated comic short stories ever created (amazing short film also). Haven't loved his other work, or what I've read of it. Have been longing to read something of his more long form.
Lo and behold, we have this new book! Not only is it long form, it's about one of my favourite topics: Filmmaking! This book was made for me. I rest completely in the dead centre of the Venn Diagram that exists for the target audience of this book. A long form graphic novel about Filmmaking from one of my favourite artists? Sign me up!
But did I like it?
For the most part: yes! I think this a really good book. I wouldn't say I loved it, but this might change on a re-read. Wasn't expecting the narrative to be so sprawling, and it really opens up towards the end in a way I was not expecting. Not a bad thing, just caught me off guard. Knowing what this book is actually about now, might make for a better experience the second time around. Because it turns out it's not really about filmmaking. It's really about (Vin Diesel voice activate) 'family'. This sounds corny, but I think Harkham pulls it off.
The art is also stunning. The best his work has ever looked. Especially adored the colours of that side story in the middle.
Will absolutely be reading whatever he does next. An underrated talent.
Lo and behold, we have this new book! Not only is it long form, it's about one of my favourite topics: Filmmaking! This book was made for me. I rest completely in the dead centre of the Venn Diagram that exists for the target audience of this book. A long form graphic novel about Filmmaking from one of my favourite artists? Sign me up!
But did I like it?
For the most part: yes! I think this a really good book. I wouldn't say I loved it, but this might change on a re-read. Wasn't expecting the narrative to be so sprawling, and it really opens up towards the end in a way I was not expecting. Not a bad thing, just caught me off guard. Knowing what this book is actually about now, might make for a better experience the second time around. Because it turns out it's not really about filmmaking. It's really about (Vin Diesel voice activate) 'family'. This sounds corny, but I think Harkham pulls it off.
The art is also stunning. The best his work has ever looked. Especially adored the colours of that side story in the middle.
Will absolutely be reading whatever he does next. An underrated talent.
February 11, 2024
Blood of the Virgin by Sammy Harkham.
! This was a great graphic novel about a Iraqi Jewish immigrant who works for a exploitation film production company. He is writing scripts and struggling to make his own movie. Meanwhile he is trying to have a social life with his wife and small baby and he has some real issues with alcohol and everythingin the movie process as he finally gets the change to direct his film project, he gets really obssesed with it and you see his family life falter. Inbetween this story their are two others intertwined, a story about his wife's parents in the Holocaust with barely any dialogue and a story about a Cowboy who is an actor and gets fucked over everytime. This sounds weird and its kinda is, but you just see Sammy Harkin pour in all his love for the era and this project he worked 15 years on. This might not be for everyone, but i think this was highly original! And i hope we dont have to wait for another 15 years to see a new book by him.
! This was a great graphic novel about a Iraqi Jewish immigrant who works for a exploitation film production company. He is writing scripts and struggling to make his own movie. Meanwhile he is trying to have a social life with his wife and small baby and he has some real issues with alcohol and everythingin the movie process as he finally gets the change to direct his film project, he gets really obssesed with it and you see his family life falter. Inbetween this story their are two others intertwined, a story about his wife's parents in the Holocaust with barely any dialogue and a story about a Cowboy who is an actor and gets fucked over everytime. This sounds weird and its kinda is, but you just see Sammy Harkin pour in all his love for the era and this project he worked 15 years on. This might not be for everyone, but i think this was highly original! And i hope we dont have to wait for another 15 years to see a new book by him.
April 22, 2024
Not sure what to think about this. There is a strong narrative drive from page to page but not towards a cohesive story. The digressions or interludes are interesting in themselves but I didn't get their connection (if they even have one) to the overall story.
My main problem is that I didn't enjoy reading this. I did care a bit for the two main characters but hoping for a happy resolution to their troubled marriage isn't exactly a "fun read." The rest of the subject matter (1970's Hollywood and low budget movie making) is sleazy and degenerate and seems to lurch from one backstabbing betrayal to another.
However, this is an impressive artistic accomplishment, beginning with the sheer number of panels, but Harkham also develops many diverse characters and personalizes them through their visual depiction and their conversational dialogue. I understand their frustrations and loneliness but I don't really empathize with them.
My main problem is that I didn't enjoy reading this. I did care a bit for the two main characters but hoping for a happy resolution to their troubled marriage isn't exactly a "fun read." The rest of the subject matter (1970's Hollywood and low budget movie making) is sleazy and degenerate and seems to lurch from one backstabbing betrayal to another.
However, this is an impressive artistic accomplishment, beginning with the sheer number of panels, but Harkham also develops many diverse characters and personalizes them through their visual depiction and their conversational dialogue. I understand their frustrations and loneliness but I don't really empathize with them.
July 6, 2023
A rare non-Fantagraphics, non-Drawn and Quarterly graphic novel for me. Probably somewhere between a 3 and a 4 star for me. Deep tapestry of a story here, especially the tangential dream sequence (?) and backstory. Beautiful art.
February 3, 2024
A stunning comic, personal and epic, provincial and timeless. It’s circuitous and full of digressions, surprising at a dozen different points. It’s set in a highly specific time and place and milieu, but it goes a thousand miles away and stays itself. Masterpiece.
July 17, 2023
Dark Bob’s Burgers
October 21, 2022
Soon come. Stunner!
March 1, 2023
This was an almost automatic DNF. I did read the description telling me it was about a man writing about his life trying to become a film Director. The illustrations have a 70s feel to them which is when I believe this takes place, but right off the bat in the margins of the page you have porn illustrations. Then you have the characters in the bathroom having this conversation and just it was an immediate turn off for me. I have no desire to turn any more pages to read anything more of this book than the first page. Somebody will like it, just not me.
April 6, 2023
Arc from NetGalley. A bit rough and ready. An attempt at a gritty look at grind house filmmaking that succeeds more in a sense of frustration than anything else. That’s showbiz, baby.
September 13, 2023
Supongo que es lícito recalcar que Sammy Harkham ha estado gestando y trabajando en este proyecto la friolera de 14 años. Algo que a poco de estar leyendo La Sangre de la Virgen, me imagino que se puede sorbeentender sin googlear a este autor y el título de este cómic. El cual, habla de muchas cosas, con suma maestría. Pero en todo momento no deja de centrarse en la mirada más cómplice, sincera, patética y maravillosa que es la del ser humano corriente. Una ventana por la que quizás no siempre queremos ver, pero que a veces nos ayuda y nos hace recordar el pasito a pasito que son nuestras respectivas vidas. Así es como ocurre con el protagonista de esta historia. Un padre primerizo en un matrimonio (dis)funcional que se encuentra perdido en su trabajo mecánico en la sala de montaje de una productora de cine de los años 70. En una de esas clásicas historias de Hollywood, un día se le presenta la oportunidad de trabajar en una película para la que se le asigna el mismo guion. Parte fundamental de cualquier proyecto audiovisual... Pero ni esta es una idealizada historia de superación, ni la productora en la que trabaja Seymour es lo que se dice una "fábrica de sueños". Ligados a la "cara B" de Hollywood en su propia industria de cine de "explotación". Películas baratas de monstruos de trajes de goma, réplicas sin sabor de los clásicos juveniles de pandilleros y moteros, historias de época con más desnudos y violencia gratuita que rigor histórico... Un ambiente en el que el mismo Seymour logra ver la belleza y la pureza de la creación artística en estas producciones de encargo y de "engorde" de carteleras y autocines. Es así, como la historia se empieza a desarrollar. Plasmándonos de forma total a este personaje, con su mundo laboral y familiar no encontrando un término medio y casi siempre entrechocando con saña. Por supuesto, el desafío del proyecto de realizar "La Sangra de la Virgen" no ayudará a que esto mejore. Pero sí que puede que haga que Seymour se replanteé bastante de su vida y carrera profesional. Pero el mundo no solo gira a su alrededor. Seymour realmente es un personaje secundario más en una película más grande y ambiciosa. Y desde su misma pareja, compañeros de trabajo e incluso desconocidos en diferentes épocas. El escenario propuesto por Sammy Harkham va aumentando de escala pero sin perder nunca su eje emocional.
La Sangre de la Virgen es una historia compuesta por momentos. Quizás superando los que parecen inanes, pero que realmente son lo que importan en la visión general de una vida. Hay una enorme maestría en saber trasmitir tanta emoción e información no verbalizada por los personajes con un estilo tan sencillo, que retrotrae a las caricaturas clásicas de las publicaciones primigenias estadounidenses. La perspectiva cinematográfica también se extiende al ritmo de las viñetas y algunos cuantos encuadres. Otra capa más de relevancia para un cómic que no deja de trasmitir en ningún momento. Pero que se atreve a sacar de la zona de confort al lectore con ciertos capítulos que sacan de la continuidad espaciotemporal del relato troncal. Estando uno mucho más hermanado con el conflicto central que otro. Pero que saben acudir a otros contextos históricos que contribuyen al conjunto de esta historia.
Es normal que La Sangre de la Virgen transmita tanto. Como comento al inicio de la reseña, es una historia que ha formado parte del artista desde más de una década. Su propia formación se ve plasmada a la largo del conjunto. Y todo momento en el que Seymour se ve enfrentado al sentimiento (auto)destructivo de la creación artística por encima de todo, no resulta hueco o falso para nada. No sé hasta qué punto esto puede tener algo de biográfico para el propio Sammy. Pero por lo menos, ha sabido interiorizar estos momentos y sentimientos, al punto de que como lectore puedes sufrir como si lo estuvieses viviendo cada momento en el que Seymour pone por delante el rodaje de la película por encima de su familia. Cuando la incertidumbre existencial aumentada por el alcohol le hace rondar el patoso escarceo amoroso, o cuando la producción de una película tan "pequeña" empieza a encontrar obstáculos que pueden acabar con su sueño artístico y profesional. Porque para él, puede que esto no solo sea una película más de explotación. Pero para el estudio que la produce, la ciudad en la que malvive, y la historia a la que pertenece, será una hora de entretenimiento más. Cosa que no creo que ocurra con la lectura de este cómic.
La Sangre de la Virgen es una historia compuesta por momentos. Quizás superando los que parecen inanes, pero que realmente son lo que importan en la visión general de una vida. Hay una enorme maestría en saber trasmitir tanta emoción e información no verbalizada por los personajes con un estilo tan sencillo, que retrotrae a las caricaturas clásicas de las publicaciones primigenias estadounidenses. La perspectiva cinematográfica también se extiende al ritmo de las viñetas y algunos cuantos encuadres. Otra capa más de relevancia para un cómic que no deja de trasmitir en ningún momento. Pero que se atreve a sacar de la zona de confort al lectore con ciertos capítulos que sacan de la continuidad espaciotemporal del relato troncal. Estando uno mucho más hermanado con el conflicto central que otro. Pero que saben acudir a otros contextos históricos que contribuyen al conjunto de esta historia.
Es normal que La Sangre de la Virgen transmita tanto. Como comento al inicio de la reseña, es una historia que ha formado parte del artista desde más de una década. Su propia formación se ve plasmada a la largo del conjunto. Y todo momento en el que Seymour se ve enfrentado al sentimiento (auto)destructivo de la creación artística por encima de todo, no resulta hueco o falso para nada. No sé hasta qué punto esto puede tener algo de biográfico para el propio Sammy. Pero por lo menos, ha sabido interiorizar estos momentos y sentimientos, al punto de que como lectore puedes sufrir como si lo estuvieses viviendo cada momento en el que Seymour pone por delante el rodaje de la película por encima de su familia. Cuando la incertidumbre existencial aumentada por el alcohol le hace rondar el patoso escarceo amoroso, o cuando la producción de una película tan "pequeña" empieza a encontrar obstáculos que pueden acabar con su sueño artístico y profesional. Porque para él, puede que esto no solo sea una película más de explotación. Pero para el estudio que la produce, la ciudad en la que malvive, y la historia a la que pertenece, será una hora de entretenimiento más. Cosa que no creo que ocurra con la lectura de este cómic.
May 28, 2023
Sammy Harkham's epic "Blood of the Virgin", as serialized in his Crickets anthology, is nothing short of remarkable. Despite the lengthy gaps between installments of Crickets, I've rarely read something as seamless as this. Even though there are quite a few narrative tangents, the story never felt like something that was slipping out of Harkham's control at any point. This is a remarkable feat for sure, and something that really sells why Harkham is one of the great cartoonists working today.
Blood of the Virgin is Harkham's take on 70's Hollywood, seen through the lens of Seymour, an Iraqi-Australian Jewish immigrant who works as a film editor and script writer. He works for Val Henry, a no-nonsense film executive who runs a studio specializing in cheap horror productions. Val puts Seymour on a project re-working some old unused footage into a new werewolf horror movie entitled "Blood of the Virgin". While Seymour is originally just re-writing an old script to fit the existing footage, he pines for the opportunity to direct his own film. Adding the stress of long hours on set is his strained relationship with his wife, Ida. Seymour struggles to balance his time at work and spending time with Ida and their newborn son, which only compounds his struggles to further his career in Hollywood.
Though the story is rather slice-of-life/low stakes overall, what Harkham really succeeds in is developing intricate interpersonal relationships between all the characters. This was most noticable when the story takes a massive pivot to examining the history of Ida's family even though it serves little narrative purpose towards the story at hand. In the capable hands of Sammy Harkham, it's a wordless interlude that can easily be considered a masterpiece on its own. I can understand if some would consider this a slow moving and unnecessarily winding story, but I was thoroughly engaged from start to finish.
The artwork is simply gorgeous. Like Seth, Sammy Harkham excels at the implementation of monochrome colors and rigid panel layouts to create creative compositions. There is a ton of subtlety to the way Harkham lays everything out panel by panel, making this something I imagine I'll re-read a few more times in the near future to drink in all the details. I had lofty expectations when reading this as a full collection, and it entirely lived up the impossible standards I set in my own mind.
Blood of the Virgin is Harkham's take on 70's Hollywood, seen through the lens of Seymour, an Iraqi-Australian Jewish immigrant who works as a film editor and script writer. He works for Val Henry, a no-nonsense film executive who runs a studio specializing in cheap horror productions. Val puts Seymour on a project re-working some old unused footage into a new werewolf horror movie entitled "Blood of the Virgin". While Seymour is originally just re-writing an old script to fit the existing footage, he pines for the opportunity to direct his own film. Adding the stress of long hours on set is his strained relationship with his wife, Ida. Seymour struggles to balance his time at work and spending time with Ida and their newborn son, which only compounds his struggles to further his career in Hollywood.
Though the story is rather slice-of-life/low stakes overall, what Harkham really succeeds in is developing intricate interpersonal relationships between all the characters. This was most noticable when the story takes a massive pivot to examining the history of Ida's family even though it serves little narrative purpose towards the story at hand. In the capable hands of Sammy Harkham, it's a wordless interlude that can easily be considered a masterpiece on its own. I can understand if some would consider this a slow moving and unnecessarily winding story, but I was thoroughly engaged from start to finish.
The artwork is simply gorgeous. Like Seth, Sammy Harkham excels at the implementation of monochrome colors and rigid panel layouts to create creative compositions. There is a ton of subtlety to the way Harkham lays everything out panel by panel, making this something I imagine I'll re-read a few more times in the near future to drink in all the details. I had lofty expectations when reading this as a full collection, and it entirely lived up the impossible standards I set in my own mind.
August 7, 2023
This starts off super strong with a really interesting story of a young married man Seymour getting his start in movies. He's late 20s, has a wife Ida and a new born baby. Super stressful at home, he spends all his time editing film but wants to be a director. He finally... almost gets a shot when his script is bought by his boss. But the boss wants another director. When that director is more interesting in filming butterflies than the actual script, Seymour gets promoted.
I really liked all the home scenes with the stressful baby, taking out the trash, getting take-out food. I also liked the scenes where Seymour is at parties getting smashed and basically cheating on his wife.
It's all super sleazy but Harkham's artwork really sells it. I wasn't surprised to see Kevin Huizenga
also credited as art assist in the serialized version (but not in the collected version) as their styles are quite similar. I think this would also appeal to fans of Kevin's Ganges comics.
There's a color comic collected here that is an independent story of the rise of a cowboy in Hollywood. Basically he gets screwed over on credit and payout for much of his early career.
Overall I thought this was an engaging read up until the final act where it fell apart for me. So the story is probably closer to a 3 star book, but it's hard to give something of this overall quality that low of a score - and I know if Harkham publishes another 300 page book I'll be picking it up. (That'll probably be in 2040!).
Also I've been finding every book I read recently has people drinking or doing drugs and it really makes me want to never drink again. Here Seymour and others go on huge drinking binges ending up with them doing stupid things and vomiting. There must have been a character vomiting from alcohol in every chapter.
I really liked all the home scenes with the stressful baby, taking out the trash, getting take-out food. I also liked the scenes where Seymour is at parties getting smashed and basically cheating on his wife.
It's all super sleazy but Harkham's artwork really sells it. I wasn't surprised to see Kevin Huizenga
also credited as art assist in the serialized version (but not in the collected version) as their styles are quite similar. I think this would also appeal to fans of Kevin's Ganges comics.
There's a color comic collected here that is an independent story of the rise of a cowboy in Hollywood. Basically he gets screwed over on credit and payout for much of his early career.
Overall I thought this was an engaging read up until the final act where it fell apart for me. So the story is probably closer to a 3 star book, but it's hard to give something of this overall quality that low of a score - and I know if Harkham publishes another 300 page book I'll be picking it up. (That'll probably be in 2040!).
Also I've been finding every book I read recently has people drinking or doing drugs and it really makes me want to never drink again. Here Seymour and others go on huge drinking binges ending up with them doing stupid things and vomiting. There must have been a character vomiting from alcohol in every chapter.
July 21, 2023
It’s early ‘70s Hollywood and young wannabe filmmaker Seymour has gotten his horror script, Blood of the Virgin, approved for production - though someone else is directing. The story follows the filming of the B-movie and the shenanigans that go on behind-the-scenes.
Sammy Harkham’s Blood of the Virgin is about as good as the movie in the book, which is to say it’s not very good at all. The story is tedious, the characters are all loathsome idiots and the book is bloated with numerous go-nowhere, uninteresting scenes.
I’ve no idea why Harkham chose early ‘70s Hollywood and in particular the B-movie horror films of that era to be the focus of his book but, as someone who has no direct experience of those days, it feels like he captured the spirit of the time. It’s probably a convincing look at B-movie filmmaking - rogue filming in public without a permit, make-up and props that don’t work on the day - and the difficulty of the process overall. It’s just not very interesting to read about.
I don’t know why the protagonist Seymour had to be such an unlikeable douche either but he is - and he’s among the “nicer” characters too; Harkham tiresomely underlining the scumminess of Hollywood yet again.
The book feels like it doesn’t need to be as long as it is as so many scenes seem pointless. There’s a lot of party scenes and Seymour bumbling about making a fool of himself that add nothing and an entire sequence at the end in New Zealand that was plain baffling for its inclusion. Ida’s mother’s story from how she went from WW2 Hungary to New Zealand was compelling but, again, why have that in - what is the point of the book?
I’m guessing the title is indicative of Seymour, and other young filmmakers, going to Hollywood - the “virgins” - whose talents and youthful energy - the “blood” - are used by the studio heads to make them money. But, if that’s right, then the overall point Harkham’s making in this book - that making films in Hollywood is a wretched business that chews you up and spits you out - is dull and trite.
A directionless and dreary read with a contrived maudlin air to it, I don’t know who Blood of the Virgin would appeal to but it’s definitely not a must-read comic for anyone unless the very specific subject of the early ‘70s horror B-movie business in Hollywood is your thing.
Sammy Harkham’s Blood of the Virgin is about as good as the movie in the book, which is to say it’s not very good at all. The story is tedious, the characters are all loathsome idiots and the book is bloated with numerous go-nowhere, uninteresting scenes.
I’ve no idea why Harkham chose early ‘70s Hollywood and in particular the B-movie horror films of that era to be the focus of his book but, as someone who has no direct experience of those days, it feels like he captured the spirit of the time. It’s probably a convincing look at B-movie filmmaking - rogue filming in public without a permit, make-up and props that don’t work on the day - and the difficulty of the process overall. It’s just not very interesting to read about.
I don’t know why the protagonist Seymour had to be such an unlikeable douche either but he is - and he’s among the “nicer” characters too; Harkham tiresomely underlining the scumminess of Hollywood yet again.
The book feels like it doesn’t need to be as long as it is as so many scenes seem pointless. There’s a lot of party scenes and Seymour bumbling about making a fool of himself that add nothing and an entire sequence at the end in New Zealand that was plain baffling for its inclusion. Ida’s mother’s story from how she went from WW2 Hungary to New Zealand was compelling but, again, why have that in - what is the point of the book?
I’m guessing the title is indicative of Seymour, and other young filmmakers, going to Hollywood - the “virgins” - whose talents and youthful energy - the “blood” - are used by the studio heads to make them money. But, if that’s right, then the overall point Harkham’s making in this book - that making films in Hollywood is a wretched business that chews you up and spits you out - is dull and trite.
A directionless and dreary read with a contrived maudlin air to it, I don’t know who Blood of the Virgin would appeal to but it’s definitely not a must-read comic for anyone unless the very specific subject of the early ‘70s horror B-movie business in Hollywood is your thing.
July 22, 2023
Many of my favourite comics fit into a type: created over a long period by a solo author, clocking in around 300–700 pages, fitting in a single book, focusing on morally flawed and/or sad-sack protagonists, and tackling big existential themes. If I wanted to be glib, I could say they're comics trying to be "serious literature", striving for recognition from the literati – the kind of things guaranteed attention from critics at The Guardian and the New York Times. Maybe I've just been indoctrinated with the standards and values of the literary establishment, but it’s comics like these that I feel most inclined to class as “great works”.
As “Blood of the Virgin” fits very comfortably into this category, it should be no surprise to anyone that I love it. This is a meaty, complex, multifaceted, nuanced work. Its premise sounds hyper-specific – a Baghdad-born, Australian-raised Jew making horror movies in 1970s Hollywood – but it’s actually a very universal story, revolving around big themes like parenthood, family, love, lust, career, ambition, art, migration and racism. In other words, like most of my favourite comics (and novels and films), it's about life in a very broad, holistic way.
The cartooning and writing are both excellent. The art style reminds me of Kevin Huizenga – cartoony without ever being goofy – and the visual storytelling is masterful. The story feels very real, its characters complex and believable, and it avoids clichés and easy resolutions. In short, this is a mature, sophisticated and utterly engrossing work, and it hit me pretty hard on an emotional level. I only read it once before writing this review, but it begs to be re-read, so I’m sure I’ll come back to it soon.
As “Blood of the Virgin” fits very comfortably into this category, it should be no surprise to anyone that I love it. This is a meaty, complex, multifaceted, nuanced work. Its premise sounds hyper-specific – a Baghdad-born, Australian-raised Jew making horror movies in 1970s Hollywood – but it’s actually a very universal story, revolving around big themes like parenthood, family, love, lust, career, ambition, art, migration and racism. In other words, like most of my favourite comics (and novels and films), it's about life in a very broad, holistic way.
The cartooning and writing are both excellent. The art style reminds me of Kevin Huizenga – cartoony without ever being goofy – and the visual storytelling is masterful. The story feels very real, its characters complex and believable, and it avoids clichés and easy resolutions. In short, this is a mature, sophisticated and utterly engrossing work, and it hit me pretty hard on an emotional level. I only read it once before writing this review, but it begs to be re-read, so I’m sure I’ll come back to it soon.
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