"Beauty is only a scalpel away"
*Short review*
If you are a fan of the show Nip/Tuck hunt this comic down. If you are a fan of cosmetic surgery Hunt this down. If you are a lover of fine art, then you will appreciate this comic for sure. Heck if you like a good mature read, find this book and read it. *The Full Review*
The Enigma team returns to screw once more with our perception of truth, beauty and the value of life. If you read Enigma, I hope you read this as well, it is good. If you have not read Enigma, don't worry, this comic is self-contained and great. Peter Milligan may just be a very twisted soul. Like all great artist, he walks the line between sanity and madness. This casual strolls he takes must be the reason for his focused comments of the Human Condition. In this comic it is beauty in all its glory and its ugly forms. Ironic sounding that beauty can be ugly, but Milligan chimes in truths to that. His balance act between sanity and madness is one of the reasons he is a modern genius in comics.
What is nice about this comic is that Peter Milligan is well versed in Greek history, myths and culture. This fascination with the Greeks could be part of the reason he is so enlighten. The Greeks were one of the earliest cultures to map the human conduction and many of the archetypes they created are relevant today. Peter Milligan exploits them in this comic. "Narcissism" runs ramped in this comic. The opening page starts with the main character, David the plastic surgeon, looking into a mirror and pretending to do surgery on himself.
Peter Milligan also works in art and the value of beauty. This comic becomes a twisted essay of what makes something beautiful and what slight changes would make something beautiful into something ugly.
This comic is also nice because of the lingo Milligan infuses into the book, such as Blepharoplasty and Rhinoplasty. Milligan is commenting on the symbolic connection to the altered body part when doe does this. In the term of Blepharoplasty, which is eyelid surgery, Milligan is telling us the read that we need to keep our eyes open wider then natural. Also the reference to Rhinoplasty (Nose restructuring) about his David's wife before their wedding is almost like a comment of resetting Pinocchio nose, which we learn later that withholding truths and lies are common in their marriage. Milligan plants a lot of these comments all over the comic and some of them again have Greek connection like Rhinoplasty, which comes from the Greek words: Rhinos, "Nose" + Plassein, "to shape".
Be warned that reading this comic may change your view of comics. When reading this comic you are "Crossing the Rubicon".
Cheers!
- Silkcuts
