Book of the Month

Petrograd

What did the
iFanboy
community think?

Philip Gelatt - Story
Tyler Crook - Art

Size: pages
Price: 29.99

Realistic fiction about historic period in foreign place? Check.
Beautiful packaging? Check.
Well thought out characters with a hell of a lot on the line? Check.
Feels a little like Queen & Country? Check.
Came from out of nowhere to surprise and delight me? Check.
Perfectly suited artwork from an up and comer? Check.
A meaty 250 page read? Check.

It looks like it all adds up. We’ve got ourselves a Book of the Month. From the instant I heard the pitch for Petrograd, I knew it was for me. That was a long time before it came out, and I didn’t know either of the creators involved, but still, I was determined to check this out. Writer Philip Gelatt and Tyler Crook (now regular artist on B.P.R.D.) came from relative obscurity and dropped this book on me in the best way.

Here’s where we are. Petrograd takes place in the eponymous city, also known as Leningrad or St. Petersburg over the course of a few months in 1916 and 1918. If you know your world history, you’ll know that this is a fairly significant time for the folks over in Russia. World War I was still going on, and the Bolsheviks were getting ready to be done with the Tsars. Still don’t know what that means? Then this book probably isn’t for you. Or perhaps you’ve always heard the terms, but want to know more? Then this book is for you. It’s not a true account, but a fictionalized story that fits within the framework of actual history. That’s no mean feat, especially at this complicated time in history. There’s also Rasputin in there. He was a sort of insane priest figure who had the Tsarina pretty hooked on his personal charm, and remains one of the most mysterious and fascinating figures on the historical world stage. Go read all about him, but if you don’t know much, do it after you read this book. Trust me.

That’s because this book is about the plot to kill Rasputin, and the folks involved. It mostly focuses on a junior British SIS agent, Cleary, who has his intelligence feelers out all over the differing levels of political players in 1916 Petrograd. He knows the secret police, and some of the royal family. He’s also sleeping with one of the communist revolutionaries. Is it business? Is it personal? Who is he anyway, and what’s he for? We ride along with him as he willingly and unwillingly becomes deeply involved in these world changing events. The thing that’s especially intriguing about Cleary is the weight of what he is doing, and the fact that he knows it. The stakes are enormous is just about every conceivable way. That tension keeps this book moving at a fast clip all the way through, and while it may sound like tedious and ancient politics to some, I couldn’t put the book down.

Where Gelatt succeeds most is in the verisimilitude of the whole thing. I have no idea what Petrograd was actually like in 1916, but I’m perfectly willing to believe Gelatt’s version of it. It feels very well research, and the list of books in the back suggest that it was, but either way, he sold it, and that’s all that really needs to happen to enjoy a book like this. There’s a lot of intrigue, and a lot of things not being said, as happens in the spy world. There’s a touch of melodrama, and there’s a whole lot of fear. If it’s ever made into a movie, it will have very good actors and a complicated script, and almost no one will go see it, but I will most certainly be there early. A lot of media gatekeepers believe that American audiences will not be interested in something that doesn’t involve America, but I find the opposite is true with me. I don’t know anything about how the world worked in 1916. It’s all new information to me, and because of that, it’s a wonderful reading experience.

The art provided by Tyler Crook is the other piece of the puzzle. I’ve written stories framed in historical time periods, and while there’s a lot of research put into the story, it’s  up to the artist to make it appear before us. Often, readers have no idea how much time and effort went into constructing a world that is not our world, but one that doesn’t exist any longer. The buildings are different, the clothes, the mannerisms, and dozens of tiny things we’d never think about. Crook had to take all that, and put it on the page, while at the same time, create this tense drama, that is more about politics (read: talking) than it is any action scene. Luckily he had a bunch of varied and extreme characters to work from, like Felix, the foppish prince, Hoare, the ignorant British station chief, and Rasputin himself, who’s got to be drawn both otherworldly creepy, and real at the same time. Crook took all of it in stride, and made a place that was real, in a style that isn’t all that realistic. That’s what great cartooning is. The characters are distinct, and emote in different ways from one another, and with a book where so much is being unsaid, and lied about, he very much communicated what was going on. It’s impressive to say the least, and I’m not at all surprised that Mike Mignola saw something here he thought would be perfect for B.P.R.D..

I was a little terrified that this perfect sounding concept of a book would fall flat in execution, or lose the correct pacing, or just drop off a cliff at the end. But it didn’t. It held me all the way through, and left me wanting more. Petrograd effortlessly lays out a complicated, but very possible history, and delivered on every implied promise for a wonderful read. The only problem with a book like this is that they take a long time to produce, and it will probably be a while more before we get anything else like this. But the next time a book is released with either Philip Gelatt or Tyler Crook on the cover, it’s an automatic purchase. I can also promise that, should the revolution come, I’ll do what I can to keep them off the wall.

Josh Flanagan
I admit, they made a book just for me.
josh@ifanboy.com

Comments

  1. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    I just ordered the sweet bejesus out of this. “usually one to three weeks” can’t come soon enough! 

  2. Got very excited for this when you guys first previewed it some months ago and pre-ordered from amazon.  Glad to hear it lives up to such high expectations!

  3. I preordered this a couple months ago. Good to hear my imulse purchase was not in vain!

  4. Gonna buy this on nothing but the above review. Actually, I was already sold with the line “Feels a little like Queen and Country.” Now if only I could find a “Feels like Gotham Central” book….

  5. my botm is Hellblazer:city of demons thanks for pimpin’ it on the audio show josh one of the best reads I’ve had in a while

  6. Can’t wait to read this book.

  7. Sounds really interesting. It’s added to the wishlist.

  8. I cannot wait to purchase this! 

  9. Excellent, added this to m pull list earlier today.  Love the art.

  10. Met the creators at SDCC and picked this up. Haven’t read it yet, but soon! 

  11. @androidmoser  Same here! This is one of the nicest looking graphic novels I own and can’t wait to read it. Gonna finish the Sixth Gun trades first.

  12. This looks great, I was always fascinated by the Rasputin story, and the art looks excellent. Glad it’s got a lot of pages too! I’ll probably order this soon.

  13. Sounds great!  The Queen & Country comparison sold me.

  14. this looked great in the preview but glad to hear they stuck the landing. Just ordered via the iFanboy store 🙂

  15. Haven’t read it yet, but the book itself is gorgeous. Nice thick pages and it’s kind of a heavy feeling book. You could probably kill ole’ Rasputin with it!

  16. Getting this is a no-brainer for me. Events of this book took place right next door to us.

    The aftermath of Bolshevik revolution had a HUGE impact on Estonia. Between 1918-1920 we fought a War of Independence with Russia and regained our freedom after long occupation by different foreign powers.

    So yeah, I’m SOLD.

  17. I finished this book last night and it’s freaking fantastic. Thank you Josh. Excellent choice.

    The only minor complaint I have is with the art in certain scenes. Sometimes the artist Tyler Crook drews some of the characters looking very much alike and it was hard to tell them apart. Especially the three main characters involved in the conspiracy. At the basement scene in the Chapter 3, two of them were wearing some kind of military uniform, and the only way to tell them apart was if their name was mentioned, or I can remember which character parts their hair to which side.

  18. This was the best graphic novel I’ve read since Asterios Polyp. The story is tense, tight and well told, and the art is fantastic.

    Thank you Josh for the recommendation. What a great read!

  19. Just got this in the mail today. I can’t wait to read it!

  20. Just finished this last night, and it is indeed fantastic. Artfully written, well-paced, historically interesting and enlightening, this is the best OGN I’ve read this year. Highly recommended.

  21. I just finished this. It was a fantastic read. My only wish was that there were more spy scenes. Those opening scenes with C were some of the best spy scenes outside of Q&C I’ve read. I didn’t really know all that much about Rasputin and the Bolshevik Revolution so this was edutainment for me. Excellently done.

  22. Got my copy today and I just got to chapter 2. So far it’s really compelling and I just wanna keep reading it.

    Great choice, Josh!

  23. Thanks Josh. Just ordered it off Amazon. Sa-wheat!

  24. Was not aware of the British involvement in the assassination of Rasputin, but I am well aware of the history involved with the end of Tsarist Russia. With that said, this is the best OGN that I have read this year.

  25. Excellent.

  26. Wow! The great art and compelling story make this a powerful book that captivates and educates and still leaves you wanting more. After the gut-punch of an ending to chapter one, I could not put this down. Amazing work from Oni Press and a wonderful recommendation from iFanboy.