Epileptic — David B.
Pantheon
2005
Rating: PPPP
Rating:


In the graphic novel "Epileptic," David B. (neι Pierre-Francois Beauchard) tells, with staggering detail, his family's attempts to cure the epilepsy of his brother Jean-Christophe through conventional and New Age means. The subject could be the fodder for a mawkish, solipsistic memoir, but David B. has done something special with his memories in his decision to turn them into art. From childhood, David uses his illustrative gifts to exorcise his inner demons. It's through drawing that David believes he can contain the epilepsy that has conquered his brother. David renders this battle through impressionistic imagery, sometimes showing Jean-Christophe in the midst of an epic medieval war with his disease, which is also sometimes portrayed as an engulfing black mass. This is a warts-and-all autobiography. David unflinchingly depicts the way he tortured his increasingly sullen brother, occasionally causing his seizures, and visualizes his fantasies of killing Jean-Christophe to relieve the burden on his family. David finds redemption through his imagination and the writing and drawing of this book.

Posted Thursday, April 28, 2005

Link to this review:
http://filmzeus.pressbin.com/book/david.b/epileptic