Saturday, April 15, 2006

What I'm Reading -- Night Fisher by R. Kikuo Johnson


Night Fisher is the debut Graphic Novel by R. Kikuo Johnson. Loren Foster is a high school student at a private school in Hawaii. He is a bit of a nerd and the son of a dentist who has a bigger yard than he can handle. Loren, in a bid to get along and keep up his near perfect grades, starts hanging out and taking harder drugs with his questionable friend Shane. The two Seniors become ensconced in a world of crystal meth and petty crime. Johnson, who also did the artwork, shifts the perspectives throughout the panels. This makes the art almost ethereal, but still extremely vivid. The author is a subtle storyteller, especially when dealing with Loren’s father, who is trying to stay close to his son, but is also obsessed with his work. Johnson does a great job showing the confusion in life when things are about to change and what people turn to when expectations become overly harsh. It took some time for this to sink in after I finished it to really appreciate it, but this is a really solid graphic novel.

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