Lynd Ward: Six Novels in Woodcuts

This set is a beautifully bound collection of six graphic novels by Lynn Ward. All of them were written (or carved to me more precise -- they're wordless woodcuts) between 1929 and 1937. The artwork is stark, beautiful and verges on socialist realism -- except instead of the heroic workers and

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artists triumphing, they are typically depicted as being crushed by what Ward portrays as soulless capitalism, authoritarian police states, and simply fate. Although I didn't recognize any particular image, collectively they seemed like iconic representations of a certain age and worldview, to some degree dated and off-base, but also an interesting historical document and work of art.

The first novel in the collection, God's Man, is also one of the best. It retells Faust in a relatively simple, easy to follow series of images that works well without words. The last novel, Vertigo, is another one of the best, a considerably more complex story divided into three parts and multiple sub-parts, it is nevertheless relatively straightforward to follow and covers a vast panorama of Depression-era America. Only one novel, Madman's Drum, is a failure because it is largely incomprehensible without words, although even this one has interesting images.

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