Shutterbug Follies: Graphic Novel Hardcover – October 8, 2002

Beign a photography student myself, I get to talk to photo processing machine operators from 2 or 3 stores, their working life is pretty much like Bee's unfortunately they don't get to see many outstanding pictures as she does, I am sure they are going to enjoy this graphic novel when I show it to them.Going back to the book, the story is nice and keeps you wondering what is going to happen next, I feel the end was the weakest part, it wasn't bad but I expected a little bit more (that is why I rated it 4 starts) anyway I hope to see more of Bee and her photo adventures in the future.The art is nice and clean, colors and effects fit very well, this is a well accomplished book from design and printing points of view. Characters are well developed even if some of them get very few pages in the story, liked all of them even the customers at the beginning of the story.In overall, a nice mistery graphic novel to enjoy whether you have some interest in photography or not.

The art work was superior and the story was compelling!

Well written story. Some explicit drawings. Good story build

Loved it. Great story

Set in 2001, Bee is a young Manhattanite working in a photo-processing shop (remember those?) and, among the usual hum-drum photos of birthday parties and babies, she comes across some lurid photos of recently deceased people. The Russian photographer who took them claims they are staged and not actual dead people but Bee's curiosity is piqued and she decides to follow him... with startling results! Part Tintin, part "Ghost World" in tone, Jason Little's "Shutterbug Follies" presents a whimsical version of New York City and introduces a charming protagonist in a strange odyssey of high art, gangsters and murder most foul.While the story isn't as brilliant as his other Bee-featured book "Motel Art Improvement Service", "Shutterbug Follies" is a gently amusing romp with a colourful cast of characters. Little's strong plotting keeps the story ticking over nicely as Bee explores Manhattan as a kind of hipster Nancy Drew. Her pleasant and approachable attitude to life easily makes her friends with odd characters like a middle aged rocker moonlighting as a cabbie or an artist's assistant hiding from his tough guy neighbour after being caught photographing his wife (it's for art, honest!). The chance meetings with these minor characters send her in different directions but Little collects the disparate threads, masterfully tying them into a coherent story.Little has a good sense of knowing when to let the pictures tell the story and when to insert dialogue. There are no narrative boxes so the reader has to interpret panels by looking at characters' faces and body language rather than rely on thought bubbles or an omnipresent narrative voice. It's very subtle, artistic and feels very naturalistic to read. The dialogue is convincingly real and the characterisations are fine with the standout being Bee of course as the lead. She looks, acts and behaves very much like an 18 year old New Yorker would.The attractive art, well laid out panels and entertaining story makes "Shutterbug Follies" a fine comic book read. If you've got a choice, I'd strongly recommend his more recent book "Motel Art Improvement Service" which I feel is a more refined example of Little's narrative and artistic skill, but both books are worth picking up.

Although this book first appeared in serial form in a weekly newspaper and online, I''d never heard of it until I stumbled across a copy in the library. I'll give just about any graphic novel a few pages to hook me, and this one reeled me in. The story revolves around 18-year-old Bee, a Manahattanite just out of high school, working at a local photo store. Running the processing machine gives the budding photographer ample opportunity to peer into the lives of others. And when she sees something interesting, she prints out an extra copies to shows to her art-school buddy Lyla, over cups of coffee.Of course, one day, she sees some photos of corpses so strange and real that she gets curious. Soon, she is following a Russian-Armenian wanna-be  Weegee  across boroughs with the help of a friendly taxi driver, as she tries to figure out if she's looking at snuff shots, well-staged fakes, or simply the work of a genius. Basically, Bee is a classic teen busybody of the  Nancy Drew  meets  Scooby Doo  ("If it hadn't been for you pesky kids!") variety, and her investigation is similarly spunky. Before too long, she's got herself into a tight spot and only her quick wits can save her!The book is fun, but not perfect. The supporting cast is well developed, but tend to walk on stage to perform their little function in the plot, and then disappear. That keeps the story moving at a nice pace, but also somewhat mechanical. The dialogue is much much better than most graphic novels, as the characters actually speak like normal humans, each retaining their own distinct voice. Although, the one big flaw in the plot occurs when Bee eavesdrops on an incriminating conversation taking place in stilted English, when there's no reason the speakers wouldn't just be using their common native Russian.The art is very crisp and clean, which I quite like. Like the work of the great Belgian cartoonist  Herge , the people are cartoony, but realistic enough to fit into the realistic cityscapes they inhabit. The New York that appears in these pages feels much more vivid and lifelike than most cities in graphic novels. The colors are worth mentioning, as their supersaturated hues pop from the page. The top-notch printing, paper, and binding, all combine for a lovely package. Good stuff, well worth checking out.

Set in 2001, Bee is a young Manhattanite working in a photo-processing shop (remember those?) and, among the usual hum-drum photos of birthday parties and babies, she comes across some lurid photos of recently deceased people. The Russian photographer who took them claims they are staged and not actual dead people but Bee's curiosity is piqued and she decides to follow him... with startling results! Part Tintin, part "Ghost World" in tone, Jason Little's "Shutterbug Follies" presents a whimsical version of New York City and introduces a charming protagonist in a strange odyssey of high art, gangsters and murder most foul.While the story isn't as brilliant as his other Bee-featured book "Motel Art Improvement Service", "Shutterbug Follies" is a gently amusing romp with a colourful cast of characters. Little's strong plotting keeps the story ticking over nicely as Bee explores Manhattan as a kind of hipster Nancy Drew. Her pleasant and approachable attitude to life easily makes her friends with odd characters like a middle aged rocker moonlighting as a cabbie or an artist's assistant hiding from his tough guy neighbour after being caught photographing his wife (it's for art, honest!). The chance meetings with these minor characters send her in different directions but Little collects the disparate threads, masterfully tying them into a coherent story.Little has a good sense of knowing when to let the pictures tell the story and when to insert dialogue. There are no narrative boxes so the reader has to interpret panels by looking at characters' faces and body language rather than rely on thought bubbles or an omnipresent narrative voice. It's very subtle, artistic and feels very naturalistic to read. The dialogue is convincingly real and the characterisations are fine with the standout being Bee of course as the lead. She looks, acts and behaves very much like an 18 year old New Yorker would.The attractive art, well laid out panels and entertaining story makes "Shutterbug Follies" a fine comic book read. If you've got a choice, I'd strongly recommend his more recent book "Motel Art Improvement Service" which I feel is a more refined example of Little's narrative and artistic skill, but both books are worth picking up.