[0OG]∎ [PDF] Free Shuck Unmasked Rick Smith Tania Menesse 9781891830471 Books

Shuck Unmasked Rick Smith Tania Menesse 9781891830471 Books

Download As PDF : Shuck Unmasked Rick Smith Tania Menesse 9781891830471 Books

Shuck Unmasked Rick Smith Tania Menesse 9781891830471 Books

Shuck Unmasked is an incredibly difficult book to explain or summarize because, more than anything, it is a mood that is provoked, or a feeling that settles upon you as you read it.
To tell you that it's about a demon with a goat face who wears an old man mask and rakes leaves and chats with the little girl across the street (Thursday Friday) and her talking cat, Jamara, and helps restless souls keep out of trouble... this tells you nothing. If anything, it puts you in the wrong frame of mind, because Shuck isn't a demon in the horror-movie sense of the word. He's not at all scary or evil. He's just this goat-faced old guy who mostly putters around the house. He's really quite nice, actually.
Shuck Unmasked collects the four issues of Rick Smith's comic-book series, Shuck, and then adds two new stories that have never been published before. Having already purchased the first four issues, I momentarily debated about whether or not I should get the book. But then I realized that it really didn't matter because I'd gladly pay 15 dollars for two new Shuck stories. These are long, slow stories that leave you feeling like you've spent the day outside on a chill autumn day, come inside to a cup of hot tea and been told the most wonderful story by an old friend who you haven't seen in years. Someone who really knows how to tell a story.
Someone with a sense of humor. And the ability to take you someplace else entirely with their words (and, in this case, their pictures).
One thing that may throw you off at first is the way the characters speak... their dialogue is written phonetically so that you "hear" it rather than read it. It's difficult, at first, to decipher what's being said. After a couple of minutes, though, your brain adapts to it and you stop being aware that your brain is translating the words for you. It's a neat effect, ultimately, because it gives the dialogue an authenticity that most written language lacks. Still, it's odd for those first couple of pages.
Example: "Wif tha odrous nachur of what you haf concocted fore tonight, I've no mind to dring the stuff, Mr. Shuck."
= With the odorous nature of what you have concocted for tonight, I've no mind to drink the stuff, Mr. Shuck.
The most helpful thing I can tell you about Shuck Unmasked is that reading it leaves you with the same feeling as watching "Wings of Desire" or "Paris, Texas" or "Man Without a Past" or "Double Life of Veronique." It's a warm, satisfied feeling like what you used to get when, as a kid, you watched the Peanuts holiday specials, where nothing ever really happens, but somehow a whole world opens up to you, more real than the one you live in. It is storytelling at its finest.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough.


Tags : Shuck Unmasked [Rick Smith, Tania Menesse] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <ul> <li>Shuck is a demon who used to be in the business of guarding souls. Wearing an old man mask to hide his goat-faced nature and to fit into his new retired lifestyle,Rick Smith, Tania Menesse,Shuck Unmasked,Top Shelf Productions,1891830473,COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS General,Comics & Graphic Novels,Comics & Graphic Novels Horror,Graphic novels,Horror,Fiction

Shuck Unmasked Rick Smith Tania Menesse 9781891830471 Books Reviews

There is just something magical about this comic. It is the story of a devil who wants a different life. He's been everywhere and done everything, and realized that he's forgotten who he really is. He befriends a young girl, who puts him on the right path at last. There is a bit of myth thrown in, and the result is surprisingly (and refreshingly) original.

It takes a lot for me to find something truely heartwarming, and this book is almost overwhelmingly so at times. It is definitely not sappy, but it has a real innocence. It is also a well-timed comic, and simply wothy of my best all-around praise.

I can't wait for the next collection... I can't wait to see what becomes of Shuck and Thursday... They've become two of my favorite fictional characters.
I actually really liked the concept of this book, as well as the style of illustration. However, the ONE thing I could not get over was that bizarre and sometimes downright cryptic text. I DO like the idea of a somewhat "created" language... Many times I was reminded of a more archaic form similar to what's seen in translations of Dante Alighieri or even Homer and other classical writers, then it would be mixed with a more southern-ish dialect. All in all, it seemed to create it's own language in a way.

My problem with it is this it's a CHORE to read! I have to will myself into WANTING to read it, knowing that I would have to sound out much of the text before recognizing what the word actually was! For that reason I'm still muscling through the book. For me, this language issue really takes away from the whole experience of the book. It might be okay if that WAS the experience the author was shooting for, but I feel like the book tackles too many other questions for the language to be its sole purpose.

Overall though, I really DO think it's a great book that stretches the idea of what a cartoon/comic is capable of, and I'd be very interested in seeing what else these writer/artists come up with.
Shuck Unmasked is an incredibly difficult book to explain or summarize because, more than anything, it is a mood that is provoked, or a feeling that settles upon you as you read it.
To tell you that it's about a demon with a goat face who wears an old man mask and rakes leaves and chats with the little girl across the street (Thursday Friday) and her talking cat, Jamara, and helps restless souls keep out of trouble... this tells you nothing. If anything, it puts you in the wrong frame of mind, because Shuck isn't a demon in the horror-movie sense of the word. He's not at all scary or evil. He's just this goat-faced old guy who mostly putters around the house. He's really quite nice, actually.
Shuck Unmasked collects the four issues of Rick Smith's comic-book series, Shuck, and then adds two new stories that have never been published before. Having already purchased the first four issues, I momentarily debated about whether or not I should get the book. But then I realized that it really didn't matter because I'd gladly pay 15 dollars for two new Shuck stories. These are long, slow stories that leave you feeling like you've spent the day outside on a chill autumn day, come inside to a cup of hot tea and been told the most wonderful story by an old friend who you haven't seen in years. Someone who really knows how to tell a story.
Someone with a sense of humor. And the ability to take you someplace else entirely with their words (and, in this case, their pictures).
One thing that may throw you off at first is the way the characters speak... their dialogue is written phonetically so that you "hear" it rather than read it. It's difficult, at first, to decipher what's being said. After a couple of minutes, though, your brain adapts to it and you stop being aware that your brain is translating the words for you. It's a neat effect, ultimately, because it gives the dialogue an authenticity that most written language lacks. Still, it's odd for those first couple of pages.
Example "Wif tha odrous nachur of what you haf concocted fore tonight, I've no mind to dring the stuff, Mr. Shuck."
= With the odorous nature of what you have concocted for tonight, I've no mind to drink the stuff, Mr. Shuck.
The most helpful thing I can tell you about Shuck Unmasked is that reading it leaves you with the same feeling as watching "Wings of Desire" or "Paris, Texas" or "Man Without a Past" or "Double Life of Veronique." It's a warm, satisfied feeling like what you used to get when, as a kid, you watched the Peanuts holiday specials, where nothing ever really happens, but somehow a whole world opens up to you, more real than the one you live in. It is storytelling at its finest.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough.