Roman Muradov’s second graphic novel for Fantagraphics starts off with a bang, as a young woman plummets to hell after a successful suicide attempt. Crafted during the pandemic, and carrying all the existential gloom and crushing solitude of that era, the book is rendered with somber, dreary hues and scratchy, seemingly unfinished images that can appear off-putting at first glance. However, despite its heavy themes and unconventional images, Muradov’s sublime story rewards readers with a darkly comic, keenly observed picture of a life reclaimed.
Buy All the LivingThe unnamed young woman’s time in hell is mercifully brief, as she is immediately tasked with playing a highly rigged lottery with an infinitesimally slim chance of winning her life back. Against all odds and her own wishes, she wins, rocketing her back to her life right where she left it: at the end of her now-broken noose. However, as a previous member of the dead, she’s now able to see ghosts, most prominently her own, granting her a built-in companion and sounding board as she settles back into her monotonous life as an unfulfilled office drone.
Muradov further plays out the concept by introducing a surprise one-night stand into the woman’s life, a poor sap who expires at the peak of their coupling and doesn’t share her after-death lottery luck. In Muradov’s lore, ghosts are tied to the place they died, so the young woman is now stuck in a Three’s Company scenario that eliminates her loneliness, even as it makes for an increasingly cramped living situation. Although she still struggles to forge connections with living co-workers and intriguing passersby, her spectral support network affords her a newfound sense of community and belonging, whether or not she appreciates it.
It’s been eight years since Muradov’s first Fanta book, Vanishing Act, a wildly uneven but vibrantly colored collection of short stories that appears more visually arresting across its constantly shifting styles. Even as he’s seemingly downplayed his conventional illustration finesse in the latest book in favor of wispy, experimental sketches and drab tones, his writing is far more polished, resulting in a story that is relatable, funny, and poignant. The distinctive art style ultimately works in the new book’s favor, reinforcing the young woman’s gloomy outlook as she scratches away at her second chance at life. Muradov’s tale may have originated in the despair of pandemic trauma, but his mastery of the form heralds a bold affirmation of artistic life.
