Three Shadows - Cyril Pedrosa

Threatened by the three ominous figures that appear at their idyllic forest home, a father takes his son on a long journey to escape the dark fate that seems to be in store for the young child. Pedrosa’s drawing ability, as seen previously in his Ring Circus books with David Chauvel, is impressive. Less refined here, the black-and-white pencil, ink and charcoal work here lends a fluid, sketchy and expressive quality to the storytelling, each frame beautifully composed and drawn. The cartoony Disney Lilo and Stitch/Hunchback of Notre Dame style (Pedrosa previously worked as an artist for Disney) of the opening sections gives way to a darker and more surreal Mattotti style as the tone of the story darkens. Pedrosa also finds some imaginative ways of his own to express the fear and the flight of his characters, but the design appears a little over-worked, not always chiming with the emotional content.

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