Three Shadows by Cyril Pedrosa Review and Commentary

One of the best stories I have read in the last couple of months, Frenchman Pedrosa’s “Three Shadows” stands out as a deep and emotional story about parents dealing with their child parting (as there are three mysterious shadows after him).

This metaphorical theme made me really connect with the characters, specially the parents and feel for them in a way most stories just are not able to do. Moreover, the horror/mystery element of the shadows was also excellently done, and they never quite lost the sense of wonder and horror.

The main driving force of this graphic tale is the plot, that is, how the characters react and deal with what the world throws at them. That said, the characters are still well-realized and feel like actual people and not some cheap cut-in.

Cyril Pedrosa’s art is also nice and befits the story perfectly. By being duotone and rather simplistic, it forces the focus on the story rather than the artistic value of the illustrations (which is also undeniable) and helps convey both the character’s emotions and the sense of place and wonder that the world has.

The world falls under the “magical realism” label as the mundane and the fantastical intermix in a very soft-magic-y kind of way. This fantasy subgenre is common in fairy tales, as well as the South American literary traditions of writers such as Borges or García Márquez and is one of my favorites.

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Overall, this was one of the best comics I have read this year and will probably make it into my all-time top ten. It managed a great plot with believable characters and one of the strongest emotional responses I have ever had. All in the fantastical, whimsy art that’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen.

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Spoiler Commentary:

I must admit it took me a while to get the whole death/three shadows metaphor (at least consciously) and I did get a deeper appreciation for the story after I had finished it and given it some thought. Reading the after-story text, which said the story came out of the author dealing with the death of a close friend’s young child, you can tell that this kind if raw emotion doesn’t come out of nowhere and has indeed a very strong foundation.

I think the part that confused me the most was when the old man took the father’s life force, whatever you want to call it, and had to be chased by the three shadows. This was mainly due to my not fully understanding the metaphorical plot of the story, as I know see how he can be interpreted as the people who try to take advantage of those in pain or dealing with big trauma.

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Finally, I though the ending (with Joachim going on a journey “after death”) was somewhat hopeful in the sense of a “life-after-death” belief, which I personally feel is rather unlikely given current medical knowledge, but I did like that it gave some tint of happiness to this otherwise dark narrative.