This is the story of a little boy from Turkey, whose dream is to become a professional comic artist. But it's easier dreamt than done. The little boy is forced to abandon his goal and focus on fulfilling his parents wishes and the society's demands. But as he evolves, so does his country. Both the little boy and Turkey are facing challenges, that push them back. Yet both fight for what they want, to keep their dreams and democracy alive.

Ersin intricately weaves his story along with the tumultuous development of Turkey, giving us a candid picture of both. His sense of humor and vivid imagination is reflected in the dynamic comic strips. They reflect the bittersweet journey of the author and Turkey with honesty. Ersin seamlessly blends his art and storytelling in this novel. Drawing scenes from his life, Ersin lucidly captures characters. Like his father's distress, when faced with extremists, keeping the family safe and supporting Ersin's dream while also wanting to keep his son safe. It is an amalgam of his memoir, political satire and history. Ersin also gives a bird's eye view of the complex and layered society, its varied factions and their constant power play over each other. Just like heroes in comic novels, Ersin throws limelight on the real life heroes who stood for democracy while also portraying the ones who used power to control.

With lush art and dramatic storytelling packed with history and characters that are deep and emotive, Drawings on the Edge is a compelling and thought-provoking Graphic novel.

This is a story about one boys dream of becoming a comic book artist in Turkey. Going into this I was completely blind to the problems Turkey has faced and so this graphic novel was very eye opening to me. The story gripped me from the start and the illustrations were perfect. I can’t imagine being in a situation where I’d have to choose between surviving and freedom of speech, it effects so many countries and I often forget how lucky I am to live somewhere which doesn’t arrest someone for having an opinion.

With a lighthearted tone, "Drawing on the Edge" is a graphic memoir about Ersin Karabulut and his life growing up in Istanbul, Turkey. With heavy influence from his father, he was a big fan of comics. Life was not easy for Ersin's family. It was made more difficult by the political/religious unrest at that time. The political climate in Turkey is the background for the entire book and plays a significant role in the decisions that Ersin makes throughout the book. Since we are reading his book in comic form, we know he made it as a comic artist. Before reading this, I was unfamiliar with Ersin or his comics, so the content was new. Nonetheless, it's an exciting read for me. I wouldn't mind reading the next installment.

<i>Big thanks for the digital ARC copy of this book I've received from the publisher through NetGalley. </i>

This autobiographical comic made me sad, angry, concerned, emotional, and along this roller coaster of emotions it also made me smile and laugh. A great trip to modern Turkey, that teaches about the political system and the culture of the country. I have to say that I learnt a lot and now I want to read more of Ersin Karabulut's work!

I was facsinated by this exploration of Turkey from an artists point of view. I knew a little of the history of the Ottoman Empire and then a little about current times and the return to a more religious country but I knew very little about the secular country that came in the middle.
The images and words were a great introduction to the country and as they mostly come from a young person's point of view this made a good way to learn without feeling that you were being spoken down to.

To many in Europe now, Turkey is just a holiday destination but learning more about the nation under the sunscreen so to speak was fascinating.

I received an ARC from Netgalley and was really excited to learn about a country I don't know much about via the medium of a comic.

The artwork is detailed and interesting, although somehow feels disjointed at times with more realistic pictures and portraits mixing with cartoonish renderings at times. I wouldn't say this book's artwork is necessarily beautiful, but it's charming for sure.

I learned a lot about Turkish politics and history and also about the artist's life and the struggle to become an artist in a tumultuous Turkey.

This book was really enjoyable and I hope to see more from this artist.

Graphic Memoirs are my jam. I love a good graphic novel that is a true story about the author's life. I I especially love it when they are about people that I don't know, history that I don't know, and countries or cultures that I don't know much about.

This graphic memoir is about Ersin Karabulut and his life growing up in Istanbul, Turkey. Growing up, he was a big fan of comics. His parents were teachers. On the side, his Dad was an artist so that he could make extra money. Life was not easy for Ersin's family. It was made more difficult by the political/religious unrest that was happening at that time. The political climate in Turkey is the background for the entire book and plays a big role in the decisions that Ersin made throughout the book. Ersin had always wanted to be an artist that made comics. The road was not easy. Since we are reading his book in comic form, we know that he makes it as a comic artist. I was not familiar with Ersin or his comics prior to reading this so the content was all new. You don't need any prior knowledge of him to get into the book.

What I really liked about this graphic novel was the opportunity to learn a lot about Turkey and what was going on during the time that Ersin was growing up (Erdogan's rise to power and before). We meet Ersin when he is in grade school. The book takes us through age 23. I also liked how honest and open Ersin was about himself. Sometimes people only write about themselves in positive ways. Ersin was truthful about things and it didn't always put himself in a positive light. I like that he was real. The feelings he had and the choices he made were relatable because they were real.

I highly recommend this to anyone that wants to know more about life from a different perspective. I think it's acceptable for older high school students, young adults, and adults. One thing I love about graphic novels as an art form is that I do a first read for content. I want to know what is going to happen. I do a second read for all of the things I missed. I am eager to read this a second time.

I absolutely love Karabulut's artistic style and presentation. The combination of realism, exaggeration, and cartooniness is a perfect device for the story of his progression from a young boy growing up in a hyperregulated, traumatizing environment with a dream to escape through artistic expression both literally and figuratively. The reader can readily feel what the artist must have felt (or some semblance of it) through the careful construction of each cell and sentence. There is real terror at times, real love, real hope, and real failure. This graphic novel a representation of the struggle to be what we want to be, what we know is right, against ALL odds.

WOW
This has hit me deep inside, both for the author and politic story. Some panels are beautiful as I can see my thoughts written on them. I'm looking forward to the next volume

I knew there were serious tensions in Turkey for a long time, something between Muslims and atheists... but that's about the extent of my knowledge. This comic book serves to put a face in the context and a personal experience of living there as an artist. I can't say I liked Ersin - he has many flaws I find hard to forgive, but he is above all human and I loved discovering about his country. In fact, I would have liked to be told a lot more on the events that went on, rather than just his feelings about it. I am still unclear about what has happened in Turkey exactly. It wasn't good, it wasn't democratic, it was led by extremists and it was scary... but what did they do exactly?
This work deserves very much to exist, but I think I would like more of them to offer deeper insights a la Persepolis which takes time to explain the geopolitical play in parallel to the life of the author as well as key events. I don't feel like I have enough knowledge in Turkish history to fully understand the suggestions and hints in the graphic novel.
One thing for sure, though, I definitely want to look into what happened when the prime minister gained more power and where Turkey stands on that now.

A great story, more informative than tons of articles I read about Turkey. Great storytelling, loved the drawings
Can't wait to read another story by this author
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

4.5
I've only been to turkey once back in 2005 when I was a kid, so I know little to nothing about the political climate there, it was interesting to learn about it from a Turkish person who's unsure what each side means and to see people be grateful for a corrupt leader because at least they're not as bad as the previously corrupt leader (yet)

I learned a lot about Turkey's recent history and politics in this and can't wait for the next part. Loved the drawing style, super interesting for teens and adults alike.

I loved the unique visual style of this book, as well as its impact as a visual/comics memoir. I especially appreciated the illustrated depictions of inspiration and creative process, as well as the way the author/artist used symbolism.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Europe Comics for the ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I've been reading Ersin Karabulut's comics and stories ever since he started the humor magazine "Uykusuz" with other artists. I also read his collection albums of "Sandık İçi", as well as other graphic novels he created. So, when I saw that his new graphic novels started to be published in French, I was utterly curious. I couldn't really buy the French versions from Canada, nor the Turkish versions (of the ones that were translated), so when I saw this book in English on Netgalley, I got very excited.

If you read Ersin's comics and stories in humor magazines like Penguen and Uykusuz before, you'll remember some of the parts of the story he tells to his reader in this book. I was fairly familiar with the story of how his parents didn't initially want him to become a comic book/humor magazine artist, how he couldn't help himself because of his love and passion for comics, the hardships and the labor he had to go through, and how he finally found a way to do what he loves the most. Since Turkey is my home country too, I also witnessed some of the political events (I'm younger than Ersin by 8 years, so some of these events were either before my time or I was too little to remember them now) he mentions in this book and I, unfortunately, know what happens after where this book ends. But I think this was my first time reading him weaving his journey to become an artist with the political events and personas that hindered and/or threatened his professional as well as personal life this effectively. Maybe writing for a foreign audience in a foreign language helped him to reflect and tell more than he ever did in his own language since the foreign language offered him more freedom than his mother tongue -which is possibly something only the ones who lived under an oppressive regime can understand. And I loved this book, and the honesty, the emotion, the openness of it. It's a sad, bittersweet feeling to see that someone else also went through similar hardships as you did, and grew up with the same traditions, values, notions, and confusions as you did. I found that it must also be very hard, painful, and very close to the heart to tell about the dark history of your country as Ersin did in this book. Me, I start to tell my Canadian friends about the current situation my country is in and I find myself tongue-tied, flustered, and flabbergasted after two sentences. *My" eight-year-old self's mind would be blown in the worst way possible if she were to see the future from my eyes, I guess.

"Drawing on the Edge: Chronicles from Istanbul" is a great graphic novel for both Turkish and foreign readers who know or are curious about growing up and living in a country that is both a bridge between and a clashing point of East and West and having a dream at the same time.

It says this is Volume 1, so I'll be looking forward to Volume 2.

DRAWING ON THE EDGE is an absorbing memoir, retelling the author's childhood and early years as a cartoonist. What I really like about comics and graphic novels is the fact that they are an excellent way for readers to learn about topics they might otherwise not go for, the visual form fortunately making unfamiliar subjects and/or difficult matters a lot more accessible. Such is definitely the case here with Karabulut's book, delving into the author's early life while also shedding light on the larger political and social context of the Turkish backdrop, the personal and political inexplicably intertwined, impossible to exist without affecting the other.

I like that the book manages to retain its humorous voice despite the heavy, high-stakes atmosphere of its setting, one with intimidation, censorship, religious zealotry, and historical unbridled violence. Karabulut's dreams and everyday life can be a respite from the political backdrop of Turkey, despite also being inevitably impacted by it in turn. The joy from being completely absorbed in a personal passion like art, excitement over the most meager interactions with his cartoonist idols, spontaneity of school shenanigans that are depiected are relatable and oft humorous.

Aside from being able to talk about Turkish political and social happenings in a flowing and easily comprehensible way without info-dumping, what I most like about the book is its emotional core, especially scenes with the author and his comics characters, deeply touching in its illustration of dreams let go and achieved, the power of the latter in not only inspiring Karabulut but also allowing him to inspire others, which the last chapter superbly demonstrates.

The art is great, with the author slightly modifying the style to best fit each scene. Scenic illustrations can be stunning, especially those of Beyoglu, and characters move seamlessly. I have nothing much to say because the art works really well with the story without ever being a distraction. All in all, this is a great, informational and even touching autobiographical book, and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for the next volume.

This was a thoughtful and educational memoir about the author Ersin Karabulut and his career. He manages to become a well known satirical political cartoonist even though this is a risky and dangerous career. As his career develops we see the political changes that take place in Turkey as the country became a more authoritarian.

The author sees his life as an ordinary person who just wants to develop his art, but his father’s warnings and his own observations make him realise that his career may come at a cost. We see his thirst for art and the many little steps he takes to find his own freedom. This is a beautiful memoir told about an ordinary life in the midst of social change and political turbulence. This is a really great first volume.

The artwork was good and the story was definitely engaging. Copy provided via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

This lovely graphic memoir chronicles the political upheavals in Turkey from the late 70s onwards, seen through the eyes of Karabulut, a political cartoonist. Karabulut’s parents were government school teachers, and the violence between the left-wing and right-wing extremists directly affected them, since they weren’t insulated by their privilege. I loved his chapters on his early adolescence-he moves to a larger school that’s academically very rigorous, and he captures that feeling really well; when you’re the smartest kid in your little school, and suddenly you’re in a place where everyone’s smarter, and as hardworking, and in his case, a different social class who chose to ignore him. He finds a friend though, who shares his love of comics, and it’s lovely when that happens, and you find your tribe! ( well, or at least one fellow tribesman!) There are charming panels where these teenagers make their way to hipster Beyoglu, to submit their entries to a satirical magazine, and their awe and attempts at appearing cool and unaffected are adorable! I didn’t know of Turkey’s long-standing tradition of publishing satirical comic magazines, dating all the way back to the 19th Century. Karabulut goes on to trace his life, his changing ambitions to pursuing art, juxtaposed against the slow creep of rising religiosity, that were easy to ignore when it didn’t materially change your life. His parents seem absolutely lovely people, supporting his decision to take up something that wasn’t necessarily as economically stable and lucrative, as, say, pursuing engineering. Looking back at his life from where Turkey’s at in 2021, he finds that he can barely believe how it all seemed to drastically change in a relatively short timespan of a couple of decades. It’s excellently written-I love the vivid picture he draws of his life, the importance of comics to it ( some deeply moving panels have an entire panoply of iconic comic characters, that serve as his muses), class differences, ideological differences, and of course, the gorgeous illustrations of Istanbul, the rooftops , the BOsphorus, the neighbourhoods. The memoir’s titled Volume 1, and ends at a significant victory of sorts for the community of satirical cartoonists in Turkey, and for him personally. Throughout the comic, Karabulut emphasizes just how personal the political always is, and how you might think your position or privilege will protect you, but it really won’t.
I really hope there’s a Volume 2 in the works, and I’ll definitely buy that immediately. I can’t recommend this enough.

Very interesting book even though it was heavy on the political side. Not such a huge fan of the style of illustrations and overall it was a pretty insightful read.

DRAWING ON THE EDGE is a comic-lover's graphic novel that also shines a light on Erdogan's attacks on Turkish press freedoms. The art is distinctive and the message is quite urgent. Yet, Karabulut still mixes in a lot of humor. Full review up here: http://www.jbspins.com/2022/12/drawing-on-edge.html