Published on August 9th, 2020 | by Sandro Falce
PULP (2020) OGN Review
Summary: Pulp is a very personal, somber character piece that not only succeeds to do everything is sets out to do, but does so in a style unlike a lot of graphic novels out right now.
5
Phenomenal
Set in New York City, 1939, Pulp is a new original graphic novel about the later life of a pulp novelist told in the style of a story you might’ve found in a pulp magazine.
The first couple of pages are deceiving as they show you a western shoot-out our main character has written. The dialogue is dry, the art looks like it’s been printed on aging, yellowing paper; it’s pretty spot on. Then we cut to our main character, Max, being told that the sort of story he wants to write just isn’t very popular at the moment.
This book is incredible. The art, which comes to us from Sean Phillips, is outstanding. There’s so much detail in what feels like a very rough, very stiff art style. The story from writer Ed Brubaker fits excellently into the genre that is “pulp”, yet also feels quite fresh. At just over 70 pages, it moves at a pace that isn’t fast yet isn’t slow. You’ll finish reading it in no time, yet also feel like you’ve spent a very long time in Max’s world.
I’m hesitant to say too much more about it as it’s best to go in a blind as possible. The story Pulp tells is a personal one. There’s moments of drama, particularly when the art style changes to be more of a Western as we read Max’s work, but this more of a somber character piece.
Pulp is out now via Image Comics.