Gündüz started these <i>Taxi Tales</i> after working as a cab driver in Istanbul. I doubt this one is true as it reads like a letter to Penthouse. It's about an old man who tells a story of a woman he met when he was much younger. She was staying at the hotel he was living in and was a painter. Things quickly get sordid in more ways than one before she vanishes from his life.

Definitely an interesting graphic novel but I can't say I would read more like Taxi Tales in the future or more from this author but I may give it a second chance.

Well, that was a let down.

In this book, we hear the story of an old gentleman as he talks to his taxi driver.

Was this story interesting? No, not at all. Everything can be summed up to “man meets lady, they have sex, he catches her having sex with someone else, she leaves”, which could be okay if the characters were interesting. But they aren’t. They’re as plain as simple as the plot.

Also, why was everyone having sex all the time? It felt like I was watching AHS: Hotel again.

The only redeeming quality I can find is the ambience and art. That doesn’t fix the fact that I didn’t care about the characters nor the story, but it serves as solace – my time wasn’t completely wasted.

Rating: 2.5 stars

There is absolutely NO point to this. It is basically that old show Taxicab Confessions that used to be on like Cinnemax or something. It's an old guy riding in a cab telling the cabbie about a hot chick he banged when he was young who also banged another hot chick and did a bunch of drugs. Completely pointless T & A.

'Taxi Tales: The Fragrant Lady' with art and story by Ergün Gündüz is a story set in Istanbul and related from the back seat of a taxi.

Yalcin is a cab driver. He meets many people during his job, and this comic tells the story of an older man that enters the cab. The man tells him of an encounter with a beautiful woman, named Flore, with a troubled past. The man tries to help the woman, but not always in the best way, and things take their usual sad turn.

After an introduction stating how comics can be different the world over, I really didn't expect this typical type of story. The art is good, but a bit on the lurid side for me. It seems that the artist likes to draw beautiful naked women. Why are the troubled women in books and films always beautiful, when in reality, those with addiction issues are often not? Also, I was never able to tell why the title refers to her as "fragrant."

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

The ambiance of a taxi cab or, in modern times, more that of an Uber, is being able to connect to a person who normally you might not have intercepted in your normal life. On a recent trip to New York City for this writer, this seemed to paint true. Two of the women who drove an Uber came from 2 disparate countries both in the Southern Hemisphere, their stories of both ambition and success but also of struggle. Some stories are more intense than others. Some more romantic. Which is why a story like “Taxi Tales: The Fragrant Lady” [Ergun Gundez/Europe Comics/60pgs] is a good starting point for understanding people’s journeys. Now, granted, in an entertainment medium or even in the back of the car, certain elements will be embellished to enhance the story. That is only human nature of course. The interesting switch with something like “Taxi Tales” is that they seem to be based from a point of view in Instanbul which would be a different kind of mixture than say New York. The story here is of an older man when he was younger encountering a young woman in a hotel which turns into a quick affair. Against his better judgment, he feeds her her poison to allow her to get through another day not understanding that he is simply a weigh station. She might not remember but she has undeniably become part of his story. He cannot forget her laugh, her body, her scent. But again being told it second hand, the imagery can change in the mind of the listener making it all the more alluring if it wasn’t so cliche.

C

By Tim Wassberg

So it turns out this isn’t about a smelly lady, which is how I originally took the title to sarcastically mean. Boy, was I embarrassed at my misstep. Instead, it is about a lady that I don’t really recall being that aromatic throughout the story, but I suppose Taxi Tales: The Averagely-Scented Lady doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as nicely.
Yalçin is a taxi driver in Istanbul who picks up an old man in the middle of the night. On the drive, the man tells Yalçin about his relationship with Flore, a Frenchwoman who visited Istanbul in the 1950s. From there, the story shifts back in time, exploring this tumultuous relationship that lives ever present in his mind.
The biggest weakness of Taxi Tales: The Fragrant Lady was the framing story. Yalçin exists solely to be talked at, and his passenger (passengers, I suppose, given that Taxi Tales is an ongoing series) lives up to the moment, spouting off a sixty-year-old tale full of drama, sex, and drugs. The whole scenario feels very contrived.
Moving past that, the main story inside the frame was very appealing. It read very smoothly, telling the story of a man in over his head, drawn into an exciting lifestyle by Flore. Fueled by drugs and angst, the pair explode through life at a rate that cannot be maintained. The setting itself also feels beautifully realized, a rich, vibrant, and lived-in city that oozes atmosphere.
Read The Fragrant Lady for the core story, of young love and passion for life. It isn’t perfect, but it is an engaging, atmospheric saga.
CONTENT NOTE: This title contains quite a bit of nudity and drug abuse, which I wasn’t really expecting from the cover description. It mostly fits the needs of the story, but means that Taxi Tales: The Fragrant Lady wouldn’t be the best fit for young readers.

Review will be available at provided link on 3/7/19

I enjoyed this graphic novel I received for free on Netgalley. The characters were interesting and the story was good.

Though I liked the style of this comic and the idea beyond it I wasn't a fan in the end, The plot had little point to it. Perhaps reading it along with the other intended volumes would give it more meaning overall but on it's own it was forgettable.

I’m not against same sex stories, but I am against same sex stories that are men’s wet dreams. This reads like Dear Penthouse letter from the 90s.
What follows are my thoughts as I read the comic:
The art reminds me of a paint by numbers, I’m not sure if this is good or bad.
I like the authors viewpoint, that taxis are a snapshot into people’s lives.
The spelling error threw me off, wasn’t this edited? Or was this translated from another language?
Ok, why does it feel like the flashback art is better?
Hmm, I thought this was a murder mystery; seems more like a love conquest story.
Ug, lesbian male fantasy story. Gross.
Oh joy, slut shaming. Can I give this negative 5 stars?
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review..

THis was like a written version of Taxi cab confessions. The entire story is a monologue, and the drawing switches back and forth between the reflective old man and flashback images from his tale. Just look at the book's cover and at the woman captured in the cab's rearview mirror; you'll want to hear this old man's story too.

My thanks to NetGalley and Europe Comics for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

This was a different comic style than I am used to. The intro does state that comics in America, Europe and Japan are all different in style and this is most definitely the case. I liked the artwork and color palette, and the idea of stories heard while driving a cab are interesting, though this first story didn't do much for me.

2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 because I would like to read more of these in the future. Interesting, unique. Not what I am used to, but I am willing to read more.

I have been a big fan of Europe Comics since reading Lydie, I loved the beautiful illustrations and the equally beautiful narrative, since then I have been trying to read some other works of theirs but been unable to, however, I saw this particular comic and the found the Taxi Tales premise so interesting and I really thought I would enjoy the short tale but as much as the comic won me with its vintage style of illustrations (though the main lady's face differed in many places) I couldn't enjoy the story without any substance in it - I felt like all this hard work illustrating this story was for nothing since the tale was about a drug addict's affair with an older man, an encounter with a lady and then her disappearance. What I expected was to read about something regarding the lady with blue eyes that would make me so much more intrigued about the character and leave me wanting to know more as it's told through a passenger's recalling of a memory.

Nothing like that happened. The title doesn't correlate with the story and we see little else than big breasts and lovemaking aspect. It was boring and I just think the writer could have chosen another tale, something much more interesting to kick-start the series.

I really enjoyed this comic. The concept is fresh and the story plays on a lot of interesting and varied emotions. I also liked that the story feels complete. The artwork is simple but beautifully rendered and I'd have no trouble recommending this volume to anyone with an interest in the genre.

Blue Eyes To Die For

Using a variation on Taxicab Confessions as a way to tell a series of tales is an inspired way to both tell interesting stories and to capture something of the atmosphere of the city districts through which the taxi travels. If this first issue is any indication, I will be happy to catch a ride with Gunduz whenever possible.

We open with an old gentleman in the back of Yalcin's cab. He begins to tell a romantic tale from his youth that becomes more compelling, captivating, and erotic as the narrator proceeds. Yalcin does not interrupt and no narrator interrupts. The entire story is a monologue, and the drawing switches back and forth between the reflective old man and flashback images from his tale. Just look at the book's cover and at the woman captured in the cab's rearview mirror; you'll want to hear this old man's story too, (exaggerated and romanticized though it may be).

And that story is really more of a mood piece than a "story". Things happen and there is a plot of sorts, and dramatic tension, and all that, but it's mostly an elegant and mildly eventful reminiscence, and that was fine by me. Its setting in a certain time and a special place, and its flashback structure, adds great color and appeal. But, I'm not sure how I would feel if the story were just set out baldly as a narrative prose piece. It's the artwork that elevates the project and drives it home.

Gunduz's style is impressionist realistic. By that I mean there is a good deal of exaggeration around the edges of the panels; while the paintings seem to be detailed, close examination shows that detail is really just suggested. The overall effect is moody and atmospheric, and rather glamorous, without being at all photorealistic. It is a style that fits memory, flashbacks, eroticism, and the romantic.

So, I was very much taken by this issue, and happy to see it available in English. This was an excellent find.

(Please note that I had a chance to read a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

I've read this in English and ended kind of dissapointed. I expecter tales of a taxi driver that will force me dive into the story. It started like that but then it went quicky to talking about love affair of the one passanger. I don't know, maybe just it wasn't made for me. 1,5.

I was fortunate to get a copy translated into English.
It remains though, a Turkish comic in style, its City setting and atmosphere. The drawings are clear and full of vivid colour and explicit detail that brings an additional dimension to this passionate tale.
I love this story concept of sharing accounts of conversations and confessions within the confines of a cab journey, especially during the graveyard shift.
What better story to give traction to this serious than an old gentleman reminiscing about the fire of youthful love and its barely controllable emotion. It was a cosmopolitan world, with warm nights and sultury moods where young people partied and expressed their feelings openly and without reservation. Into that setting comes an attractive artist who turns the guy's world upside down and he spares no blushes in recounting their relationship, both its highs and lows.
Such an encounter has never left this man even into old age and it becomes real in his retelling and with the advantage of graphic novels through the graphic artwork.

The introduction here states that every country seems to adapt the graphic novel form to its own tastes, needs and suchlike. Well, on this scant evidence Turkey has adapted it for pretty but bland, derivative and dated male wish fulfilment. We're welcomed to a city cabby's car for the night, with the driver giving us a wholly unconvincing monologue, before he remembers a fare he once had, an older codger who regales us all with a tale of a lovely floozy from Paris he knocked about with a bit. The knocking about is so inconsequential, offering nothing new to anything or anyone, that all we're left with is the talent of the artist. And yes, he can draw a lovely girlish face, and sexy women, but haven't we moved on from that since Sin City days? I'm not exactly the world's greatest #metoo activist, but even I can see that here the gaze is uniquely male, women are pandering to male desires and nothing else, and this book offers nothing to half the readership. What it offers the rest is rich in design and detail, but as I say is purely for titillation and quite anathema to modern, non-Turkish sensibilities. Lovely boobs, sure – but this is a boob of the other sense, that of being a mistake.

A book that is certainly not made for me. I am appreciate the art and story of the dream that a person has though I am not sure about the entire story but the story is very mature and that should be mentioned!