Literally Graphic reviewed Park Bench by Christophe Chabouté
Review of 'Park Bench' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Park Bench was the first Chaboute graphic novel that I ever read and probably responsible for most of my positive feelings, which might not fully hold up once I finish reading across their catalogue? Wordless comics are something that almost always impress me, because of how much skill I attribute to the ability to communicate without language, kind of a concentration of all the things I like about comics over just plain text I suppose. Lots of funny, heart warming, and sometimes just a little bit questionable things happen without a single word uttered.
As far as sexuality and gender go, nothing out of the "normal" to report. There are a few instances of apparent heterosexual romance, which only highlight the lack otherwise. Class is actually a recurring issue in the fact that a police officer and apparent homeless man have a continues back and forth about him sleeping on …
Park Bench was the first Chaboute graphic novel that I ever read and probably responsible for most of my positive feelings, which might not fully hold up once I finish reading across their catalogue? Wordless comics are something that almost always impress me, because of how much skill I attribute to the ability to communicate without language, kind of a concentration of all the things I like about comics over just plain text I suppose. Lots of funny, heart warming, and sometimes just a little bit questionable things happen without a single word uttered.
As far as sexuality and gender go, nothing out of the "normal" to report. There are a few instances of apparent heterosexual romance, which only highlight the lack otherwise. Class is actually a recurring issue in the fact that a police officer and apparent homeless man have a continues back and forth about him sleeping on the bench. The climax of the story arc also centres on presenting gentrification as a bad thing.
While it's a bit difficult to pin down most people's race, there are a few obvious instances of lighter skinned characters reacting negatively to obviously black coded characters. I would describe these reactions as glares. Ability vs disability is not something really covered in the story beyond some young people on skateboards and some old people who need help standing up and sitting down.