'Streak of Chalk' with story and art by Miguelanxo Prado is a surreal graphic novel that is over 40 years old.

A lone sailor named Raul in a sailboat docks at a lone island. The only other occupants are a woman and her strange son who run a business, and an elusive woman named Ana. Raul takes to Ana, but she will have nothing to do with him. As he explores the lone island, he makes friends with a seagull, finds graffiti on a seawall, and discovers that someone on the island is murdering seagulls. The addition of two travelers brings violence to the island in one night. Supposedly a murder happened, but there is no evidence because the bodies are missing.

The story is a slow burn unfolding, and things are not clear, but that only adds to the intrigue. The story seems straightforward at first glance, but things are just not has they seem. The art has the characters all a bit skewed as well. The young boy on the island always has a shadowy menace about him. I liked this unusual classic.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from NBM Publishing, Papercutz, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

This is a beautifully with a haunting mysterious story. The story centers around a small island with an abandoned lighthouse and the strange characters that wash ashore. There is a reason why this graphic novel is a classic. The artwork perfectly suits the story. Enjoy

Raul lands on a tiny, nearly deserted island where the only other non-resident there is a mysterious woman named Ana; who claims to be waiting for someone. 

To quote the book: "This island predisposes you to believe in things that you wouldn't believe in under ordinary circumstances." Therefore, we can't be sure what we're seeing take place in the book is real. The art style does a great job of projecting that mysterious atmosphere; looking like oil or acrylic paintings. Some of the panels are REALLY dark, though; making it hard to make out some details.

Raul isn't exactly the most likable of the small cast of characters. He's pushy and arrogant; thinking because a female is near him, obviously, she must want to get with him and just can't understand why she doesn't fall into bed with him. Then the only other male characters introduced are also sexist assholes. Then it's over.

While lovely, this is not a book for me. It felt like it was trying to hart to mean something and as a result, it didn't feel like it meant anything. But man, is it pretty. 3 out of 5.

I know this won a bunch of awards when it was originally published in 1994, but I found it boring and without any real story. Raul comes across this tiny island in the middle of the Atlantic with an abandoned lighthouse and a restaurant. There is one other boat on the island with a reclusive woman, Ana, on board who Raul crushes on. He tries to catch her eye for several days and then leaves after a few days. Two dirt bags arrive on a boat and things go wrong causing Raul to leave. The whole thing just seemed a little pointless to me.

Hmmm... first, forget all the awards this has won, and try not to let the fact this is a much-approved-of book being in an expanded form for the first time impress you. You have to find if it works for you, and to an extent it did for me... but not as far as I wanted. First, it's dressed up with too many quotes, notes, fictional writings-around the whole piece, and all that definitely detracted. The core of the book was substantial enough - a sole yachtsman finding an impossible little island in the middle of the ocean, with a tiny community of oddness on it. There's a landlady living in a kind of cafe bar hostelry with her semi-mute son, and a lovely blonde female with her own yacht, that he's keen on yet who keeps giving him a hard time. It will finally resolve itself into a dark, time-bending, head-twisting story of mystique and romance, a deeper Michael J Bird, perhaps.

The artwork is wonderful, with a lot of meaningful framing, albeit not to the extent things are too showy. The only thing is the colour palette is so rich and varied and vivid it makes the reader forget the heat the story is supposed to be played in, and to get round that the creator is obliged to have lots of flesh on display. Nothing wrong with that, of course - this is supposed to be a sexily charged tale - but it won't be to everyone's taste. I would have found the book much more to my taste if it dropped the meta bits and the irrelevancies, and just allowed that charge to build to its peaks.

Possibly too weird for its own good, but not unenjoyably so, this gets three and a half stars.

2.5 stars for this book. While I loved the mysterious vibe and the weird and beautiful art, I didn't understood exactly the secret and the idea of it. There were images happening in the night time which were too dark and I couldn't see anything. Beside that, at the end of it, I was left in air, not sure of what has actually happened.

The story follows Raul, a young man who lands on an interesting tiny island, which you could't find on the map. The sails his ship there and go in a house. There is Sara, a redhead who prepares him something to eat.. Another ship is sailed here and it belongs to a blonde, Ana. He falls for Ana and he tries talking to her. But she is rude and she keeps talking about the day when the third ship will arrive and that something will change. And she says she's waiting for someone.

Every day passing by, Raul makes a friend, Lucas. He is a seagull. And talking about seagulls, most of them die, being killed by a wood spear.
Then the third ship arrive and two ugly men come on the island. They go in the only lighthouse on the island, the one who doesn't work. They are looking into their binoculars and see Ana naked on her boat. They want to rape her, but she has a gun and threatens them. I can't continue with the story because I will get into spoilers and I don't want that.

The concept and idea was interesting, the art was raw and we can see Ana, Sara and Raul naked, but I fell like the characters were plat and weird, like not belonging to this world, but I guess that;s exactly the point. I don't know what I really fell for them and the whole story, but I think that the author can work on this edition a little more, by my opinion. Overall, it was a nice read and kept my interest for finding more and see how this ends. Too bad I was left out in air.

With beautiful artwork and a plot that can be interpreted many ways, this is a perfect book club read.

Streak of Chalk tells the story of two strangers on a mysterious island where the only residents are the proprietor of an inn/general store and her silent adult son. There is also a lighthouse that hasn't worked in years and a wall where graffiti has been left by previous visitors to the island.

It is difficult to even decide what genre to which this graphic novel belongs. It has elements of romance, thriller, and mystery. There is even one line that may indicate a possibly science-fiction interpretation of the plot.

Streak of Chalk definitely uses magical realism like that in the Murakami's Wind-up Bird Chronicle. It challenges a reader's assumptions regarding reality. The artwork is sumptuous and won several awards when this novel was originally released in 1994.

Streak of Chalk is recommended for book clubs and readers looking for a book that will engender lively discussions and thoughts well after the the last page is read. 5 stars! However, there is some nudity and sexual situations that are not appropriate for younger readers.

Thanks to the publisher, NBM Publishing, and NetGalley for an advanced review copy. Streak of Chalk was released October 1, 2017.

Several boats show up on an island that doesn't appear on any maps. There's a young woman all by herself who says she's waiting for the rest of her party to come back and get her, there's a young man all by himself who finds the island curious. There's the gruff restaurant owner and her son who likes to kill seagulls. And then two ruffians in another boat land and make trouble.

And that's where I gave up. Way too much nudity for my taste and when there was a rape on page I called it quits.

Notes on content: A handful of swear words by the 50% mark. As mentioned numerous panels with women partially and fully unclothed. A rape scene on page, and I'm assuming a body shows up eventually. Someone's review said this was a great all age graphic novel. Totally, absolutely not all age appropriate.

*thank you to NetGalley and Papercutz for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

3.5 stars.
I wasnt sure what to make of this having not heard about it before. I was rather interested in the artwork. Its really quite impressive. So detailed and it really captures expressions and emotions rather well. Id have to say that was my favourite thing about it. The story however was a bit odd. We have no background on the main character except that the story begins with him having arrived at an island so isolated that its not even on a map. He doesnt seem to get the hint that Ana wants to be left alone but she soon warms up to him and they have conversations. Then the story gets very graphic and disturbing and thats what makes this graphic novel definitely not for younger readers as there is rape, violence and other graphic adult images. There is also talk of murder. So while the artwork was very well done, there wasnt much of a story. The back of the book explains the artwork in detail which is rather interesting. All up, im giving this 3.5 stars.

An interesting adaptation of a classic into a graphic novel. Well done!

The Streak of Chalk is considered as magnum opus of Miguelanxo Prado. It was first published on 1994 and was already translated to different languages, such as German, Dutch, Croatian, Serbian, Portuguese, Valencian, Catalan and English. Moreover, it also won the Best Foreign Comic on 1994 at Angoulême International Comics Festival; Best Work by Saló del Còmic of Barcelona on 1994; Prize of Honor at Amadora Festival on 1994; Best Book of the Year at Hyères Festival on 1993; and nominations at Eisner Award for Best Painter, and Harvey Award for Best Foreign Comics.

What drawn me into this award winning graphic novel is the stunning illustrations and the intriguing story of that mysterious island somewhere in the Atlantic. The picturesque sketches of Miguelanxo Prado, for this graphic novel, were very impressive; and I reckon that these might not be computer-generated or were edited by using a computer graphic software. As this was published on 1994, the used of software to alter images or illustrations were still not prevalent, so I believe that these are unadulterated work of art of the artist.

I really admired the illustrations that's why I took a lot of time to checked each comic panel as I was reading the dialogues. The story is quite engrossing and the finale gave me chills. Those who love graphic novels and those who are into mystery novels/stories would enjoy this magnificent piece of fiction by Miguelanxo Prado.

"What an idiot. Making life so complicated."

Two thirds of the way through this book, the heroine Ana observes that "We just acted out a really strange story full of absurdity and nonsense." That's entirely true, but it was wonderful absurdity and fascinating nonsense.

This graphic novel is celebrating its twenty-fifth year and it's hard to overstate its importance in terms of graphic arts and the establishment of graphic novels as legit art forms and narrative vehicles. That said, to me the book remains most powerful from the point of view of the artwork. Moody, brilliantly composed and colored, every panel is worth close examination. From grand perspective landscapes to close attention to each character's expressions and presence, this book illustrated the possibilities of the medium. It captures the haunting isolation and humid oppression of a morality play being enacted by three lost and haunted characters. In a sense you could just erase all of the lettering, follow the sequential art, and put in your own story to match the images.

As to that story, it's all about the atmosphere, and the ebb and flow of the three main characters' interactions. An isolated, tiny, weird island, (that seems to consist only of a long narrow pier, an accompanying white wall, one building, a towering pile of rock, and an abandoned lighthouse), is always and oppressively at the heart of all of the dreamlike action. Heat, humidity, blinding daylight and cloaking darkness inform everything. The characters are like ants on a sidewalk, randomly crawling over each other to get nowhere in particular.

Commentators have drawn parallels to twin goddesses, various mythologies, the works of a wide range of authors, and even more fanciful interpretations. I think it's an allegory and a romance about a broken love affair, but hey, it can be whatever you want it to be. (Even the publisher's blurber gave up and just observed that the book "can be read a number of ways".)

So, beautifully rendered and haunting, this is a marvelous example of what the graphic novel can be. A superior find for either the newbie or the experienced reader of graphic novels.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book. I am, though, bummed that this is going to expire and disappear from my reader.)

Perhaps it is the Spanish people, or perhaps it is just this author, but I do not like how the protagonist seems to think that he can just walk up to a woman and make her like him.

I mean, the first thing I thought, as I read this, was not, as the author probably wanted me to, that this was a dashing man, and a beautiful woman, and hey, they should get together, but rather that this was a sick pig, and that I would have acted the same way this woman did. She said she came to the island to write, and be alone, and what does he do? He sits next to her and wants to talk. Sheesh.

Yeah, there is a mystery, and possibly a murder, and all that, and I'm sure it is classical, but I don't like the protagonist, and it was hard to get over what a sexist jerk he was.

Beautifully done pictures, though.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.