You know a full-length graphic novel has caught the imagination of readers when it goes back to print in the same year it was published. Roman Muradov’s All the Living, which comes to us through the Fantagraphics Underground imprint, is a curious book in that it’s somewhat nihilistic and yet oddly charming as well. The story centres on an unnamed woman who, having taken her own life, ends up in purgatory. There, instead of being able to escape the mortal realm as she hoped, she is forced to take part in an afterlife lottery by demon-like creatures. Winning it she is returned to life. But it’s not quite the existence she left behind. She’s now aware of the presence of ghosts all around her. Including, bizarrely, her own. Despite the ethereal company, though, she finds herself as lonely as ever.
All the Living is on the most obvious level a reflection on solitude but it’s also absolutely one of those stories different readers will find different things to take away from. It has a melancholic eccentricity to it, often feeling maudlin and introspective. But there’s also a fine line in dark humour running through it – revisits to the underworld where the demons we met there at the beginning try to find hobbies to fill their endless days or a ghost trapped in his final form, perpetually ejaculating for eternity.
Parallels with lockdown and those long, lonely months of isolated monotony are, perhaps, an obvious interpretation for those analysing events more carefully (or even projecting their own experiences onto the page). This is very much echoed by Muradov’s carefully chosen, subdued and claustrophobic colours. Indeed there’s something ephemeral and nebulous about his visuals throughout, very much tying into All the Living’s greater thematic whole.
As a narrative this is perhaps more straightforward than some of Muradov’s previous work, making this atmospheric tale an excellent introduction to his style for those yet to discover his body of work. If you like your comics to be haunting, eerie, and served with a healthy dollop of existential angst then All the Living is most certainly for you.
Roman Muradov (W/A) • Fantagraphics Underground, $29.99
Buy online from Gosh! Comics here
Review by Andy Oliver
