Warning: this review employs wanky narratological terms for cohesion and brevity; there is a definitions list at the end of the review.

The List (Bedford, Pop, Bonin) has been completed; all five commandments are fulfilled. It asks three main questions: Is the Son insane? Who is the Angel? Then the third, perhaps the most important:

Where are we left now? We certainly remember where we began, a father and a son in a car, but what we are left with is the Angel and our very own List.

I have eagerly devoured The List (or I should say allowed it to devour me) since 2007 and now at its finish I try to pin-point exactly what The List has given me—and I am dumbfounded because it has not given me a moral lesson, but an amalgamation of our psyche, our beliefs and our world: the entity of the List itself.

The List does not offer enlightenment or transcendence, but Baudelairian immanence; the Son constantly seeking enlightenment, working his (and our) way up the List, only to die, keeping us all within our earthly bodies and boundaries.

The beauty is that we are allowed to do it over and over again, almost reaching the epitome of the sublime and then plummeting back down. We are assured this pleasure, intrigue and knowledge without ever reaching the ultimate knowledge, —and to paraphrase Nietzsche – to become the Super-Man, our own human god: looking straight into the abyss and having that nothingness stare straight back at more intensely.

The List allows its audience to take multiple layers of meaning away from it, employing very subtle, yet effective, hypo-diagesis[1] as the List is then physically passed onto Luke and ourselves. The success of this graphic novel hinges on audience interpretation and the continuation of our own List: the audience’s participation and engagement becomes essential to its telling.

The story works as a palimpsest[2] narrative. The key to truly working out the full intention of The List is to discern where the different narratives merge and elaborate on the others – something I’m sure only the creators know – this allows more realisations and layers of meaning to be deducted with each read.

On this note I’d like to make an aside to have a think about the use of homo-diagetic-analepsis[3]; these well-synthesised insights into the Son’s past are teasingly placed throughout all three volumes of The List and infers to the possible motivations influencing the protagonist without spoon-feeding the reader or giving away the plot. A commendable achievement as these flashbacks advance the story rather than bog it down.

The List works as an organic narrative[4], this indicates the level of thought, planning, preparation, revision and passion all three creators have invested into the graphic novel. This is why The List is real; it reaches a diverse audience encompassing many different genres and disciplines (horror, thriller, transgressive, psychology etc), while still satisfying each individual sub-genre successfully.

The List defies recommendation, it is simply a graphic novel that any intellectual graphic novel reader needs to have in their collection. If anyone has not yet read The List I would tell you must read it, it is the epitome of intelligent and masterful story-telling.

You will be left wanting and that is the purpose of The List.

The Commandants are completed.

Michelle Kasparian

2011   

The slog of producing The List is all but past (there will be some changes for the single volume), so it’s great to get some reward. Along with positive reviews from critics, recognition from readers who truly ‘get’ The List are the best rewards a writer can hope for (until sales enable the purchase of matching gold helicopter and gold teeth).

That these three readers have taken time out to write to me with their thoughts on my work is something I can never quite express my gratitude for.

Note: the following have been edited to remove spoilers. Where this occurs I have placed a “<snip>”.

1. Feedback from Dale Leech (Canberra)

Hi Paul

I wanted to take some time to let you know how grateful I am for all of the work that has gone into The List. I have been following since 2007 and I have to tell you it has been worth the patience and wait for the conclusion. Hats off to the city comic book store in Canberra for not only having The List available on the shelf, but for having The List up on show so that a non comic freak like me could discover an absolutely brilliant work of art.

The List hits me on every level. The story in itself is enough to satisfy my dark side then add the artwork, in only 2 colours, and you have made a master piece. I am so proud to have first editions including the signed copies of the second & third editions and keep them as the precious works of art that they are.

Where to begin…

I guess I can only go from my personal experience. At the end of the first read of commandments I & II I thought it was a very cool idea and with some really excellent artwork but I didn’t think it was anything super, super special but I loved it right off. Later that same day, I started having some amazing thoughts and little by little I began to realise that I couldn’t think about anything else other than The List. I don’t know where you have come from but to create a work like this you must be in touch with some pretty amazing energy.

The List has to be the most powerful graphic novel I have ever come across. The layout is impeccable and creates the mood and action perfectly, in only 2 colours!!! The amount of question posed after reading the final instalment is probably more than a person might have without having read The List. I did not see the ending coming. <snip> Anything that makes an ‘end-user’ think and be challenged is a great work to say the least and The List doesn’t just make you think, it gets under your skin then into your soul and before you know what has happened to you it’s too late and there’s no going back or any chance of you being the same person ever again. For The List to be an Australian product is the icing on the fucking cake man. You make me proud to be an Aussie and proud to show the world what Aussie’s can achieve. I can’t praise you and The List enough to do justice to your phenomenal work! The List reeks of street cred and I foresee The List going down in history as an underground, independent masterpiece that everyone will want a part of.

THANK YOU PAUL!!!

Cheers bro!

Dale

Ps: I’m working on some music inspired by The List. I’m talking guitar frenzy and death-like, haunting & suffocating atmosphere with some good old rock in the mix to reflect the mean and dark streets that ‘the son’ walks on.

2. Feedback from William Schaefer, Author of ‘The Wolf Letters’ (Psst: I’ve read it and it’s fucking great. No, I’m not just circle jerking because Will is a fan of my work too.)

Hey Paul

it’s official, dude … The List is a masterpiece …

It has been written, pencilled, inked and edited with extreme competence.

There’s so much to say that I think I’ll have to break my appreciation into chunks!  Here goes:

Story:

The story is the star, no question.  That’s a very bold claim given how good the artwork is, but it’s the story that gives the work its balls.  For example, the premise and those glimpses of backstory are eerie and fascinating.  The aha! plot-moments are in exactly the right places, and through them the contrast between the real world and the World <snip> becomes steadily more horrifying.  Masterful work, mate – really well-handled.  All that care you took to keep the reader guessing while not giving too much of the plot away has worked perfectly. 

<snip> I read so fast I almost got eye-burn!

<snip> (How cool’s that?  Your writing gave a guy on the other side of the country goose bumps!!  Awesome shit, bro!)  <snip>

<snip>  In short, the story is a killer and I am buying you a round of lagers.

Tone:

The tone is darker than any pysch/horror story I know – any darker and it might’ve become too violent (for my tastes) or maybe even too confusing cos the only way to darken it would be to go further “out there”.  But as it is, the tone is as mysterious, unsettling, elusive and addictive <snip>

Artwork:

What a team you have assembled.  Those guys really got your story too.  It might have been the Scaryminds reviewer who said the book wouldn’t have worked as well in colour and I agree – the B & W inked work has huge power.  It’s impressive enough on its own: for example (just one of many)<snip>

On my first read of Vol III I burned through the pages so fast trying to see what happens that I hardly noticed.  But, as with re-reads of Vols I and II, the violence receded from my mind, and the story became more prominent.  And when that happened, I started seriously appreciating the art: how talented those guys are, and how much the art serves the story in subtle and amazing ways.  (Not sure if it’s you or Henry who thinks of things like how big to make each panel, but my hat’s off to whoever does.)

Indeed, the art is ultimately a spectacular control of reader reactions.  The panels expand by just the right degree demanded by the story.   For example, sometimes the reader needs a slap in the face.  <snip> But at other times it’s so careful that you almost miss it on the second or third read <snip>. <snip> And your reader feelings/ reactions follow every time. 

Now that is a graphic novel: a blend of story and art that’s so subtle all you have to do is plug in and let it take you for a ride. 

Anyway, The List has been called “the best graphic novel ever produced in this country” and I think that’s a spot-on call.  You have set the bar at a new level, my friend, and your careful craftsmanship has found a lifelong fan in Perth. Here’s to more of your brilliant books!

All the very best to you and your team

Will Schaefer

3. Frank Candiloro. Triple threat writer, animator, illustrator and creator of the mind altering: ‘The Testament of Doctor Zeitpunkt’.

Hi Paul,

It was great to see you on the weekend and the launch went just as great! You should be proud of the fantastic trilogy that you, Henry, Tom and Fleur (and anyone else I’m forgetting) spent so much time working on.

I managed to read all of Vol.3 and all I can say is…wow. I think this is my favourite volume of the three. The tension and foreboding atmosphere of the first two volumes is amplified here in this volume, because you know that the conclusion to all this madness is coming just around the corner. We see a bit more insight into The Son’s childhood and perhaps what is the catalyst for his actions (or maybe that’s just how I’m looking at it.), which was interesting.

But for me the main highlight of not just this volume but the entire story was the finale, my god, it was so fucking intense! I couldn’t put the book down at this point, <snip> was like a bomb just waiting to go off. <snip>. I consider this a very good thing, as The List has a very visceral effect, it stays with you long after you put it down.

Henry and Tom do a superb job as always with the blacker than black art and the amazingly expressive characters, and I really like the new font you’ve used, it fits. <snip>

But anyway, as you might be able to tell from my crazed-fan ravings, I thought it was pretty damn good, a fine conclusion to your story, and a top pick for me as far as best comics of 2011 go. I know, it’s a bit early to say that but at the very least it’ll definitely be in my Top Ten picks once the year ends. And of course I still heard Tool in my head when I read it

Absolutely great stuff. Well done mate!

Cheers,

-Frank

http://www.scaryminds.com/reviews/2011/comic042.php

@thelistcomic

Scare ya there. >:^)

Well, they can be sent straight to your door (at below store prices!). Simply click on:

http://www.thelistgraphicnovel.bigcartel.com/

and “…the best graphic novel ever published in Australia” (Scaryminds.com) can be yours!