Sholm Pearly

Brain Drain by Pierre-Henry Gomont is a very different graphic novel, part morgue humour, speculative, definitely absurd and completely strange. An odd little work from a creative mind.

The topic is so off-kilter I wanted to see where it all went. It feels a little like those funny conversations you have with a good friend that start with “What if….” then you add a whole lot of “and imagine that…” until it escalates into huge belly laughs. Though I did learn that the brain of Einstein was really stolen. What a strange world… This is obviously the place to discuss scientific reasoning, fame and recognition vs working for knowledge and lots of bizarre events and action. 

The drawings are very nervous and personal, with scratchy lines full of movement from a hand with too much energy. I like the expressive style, the long silhouette of the hero always on the move. I enjoyed the analogies transforming him into a woodlice or the scene into a western set. This comic doesn’t slow down for anyone.

I think people who like buddy road trip films will love that graphic novel. It has all those odd encounters and hiccups and police chases we find in those. It brims with personality and energy and runs fast, sad it is only a first volume and leaves you in a cliffhanger.