I took a random chance on this book and was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. It was a wonderful story about boyhood, and life in the south of America in the early 1900s.
We follow Otis and Red, as they navigate growing up in a space where they aren't allowed to be friends due to the racism of the time and their area. There were some hard themes inclued in the book but I found that it was still a beautifully drawn story.

Amazing example of graphic novel historical fiction. So good. Loved the art. The characters were well developed.

Swamp is a story set in The American South during the 1920s. Two friends Otis ( a young black boy) and Red (a poor white boy) enjoy exploring the Bayou together over the summer and are intrigued when a girl around their age moves into the big manor house in town. There were things I liked about the]is book, but it was ultimately just a little slow for me.

I really liked the artwork of the book. The images at first seemed fairly simple line drawings, but there's a richness to the panels which really developed with a little time. The work definitely enhances the story. I enjoyed the story, which seems most suited to a younger age range as the troubles, while evident, are not overwhelming or graphic, allowing for a depth of story and understanding without being distressing.

A story of friendship with a sinister undertone.

Living in the bayou back had two different sets of lifestyle-based on your skin color.

The three young children spends their summer figuring out their friendship and having adventures while heinous deeds occur around. They find themselves amidst this.

Will they be able to get themselves out? Read on and find out.

I liked the illustrations and the characters. They were well developed.


Thank you NetGalley and Europe comics for giving me the opportunity to read this!

The loose watercolor & black line artwork is a genuine pleasure. It evokes Kerascoet or Pat Grant but with such muted colours, almost monochromatic, that showcase the detailed line work. I enjoyed lingering on each page to explore the minutia.

The dialogue is a bit clunky and maladroit making the racial & social themes at the heart of the story shallow and lacking nuance & heart. The story seems intended for a middle grade audience, but readers should be aware that there is no tidy moral conclusion or neat ending to this story.

I recommend this graphic novel to anyone who enjoys southern gothic coming of age tropes or to fans of euro watercolor style comics.

Enjoyed this. Another one that hits a total niche for kids who love a bit of history! Some interesting illustrations and the sketchy style was lovely.

perfectly dark, intriguing and gothic, I particularly loved the style of drawing of this graphic novel!

Great summer reading focusing on some not so savory parts of the often romanticized Southern Gothic genre. Great illustrations, especially in the swampy backdrops. While I liked what I read, this could have benefitted from being longer. The story dropped off pretty abruptly at the end with some plotlines that felt really unresolved. Overall, this had solid illustrations and a decent story. I don't know why its marketed towards adults? This definitely feels like a middle grade book with some more serious undertones. I think it would shine a lot more in that category. Thanks to NetGalley and Europe Comics for the free copy!

I think this book was fairly interesting although I wouldn’t rate it any further than the three stars as I felt like it was about average. I did like the characters and the connection we had with each other. The answer was also very good but I just didn’t connect with the story, like I do with so many others that might be because it’s not very my style or it could be that I don’t usually read books like this, so this can be because of me, but I thought I’d experiment and try out the genre, but that is nothing to do with the authors capabilities

There are shades of Tom and Huck here as two boys - one black, one white - share a languid summer in the bayou, swimming, exploring, and pulling pranks. But there are dark undertones to this light-hearted tale of an American boyhood. A black man is missing, feared dead, and the sheriff has little interest in finding him. As racial tensions mount, it seems as if Otis and Red's friendship may even be in jeopardy.

This was a wonderful read. The gorgeous illustrations reminded me of Peter Spier's children's books, and the story is both fun and intriguing.

Swamp by Johann G. Louis is a Southern Gothic tale of two boys in the bayou in the 1920s. The illustrations were simple but moving, and the characters were well-developed. I liked that it was realistic and didn't end with the boys solving a murder or fixing the racial tensions in their town. The ending felt abrupt, but hopefully that means there will be a sequel.

Johann G. Louis takes the reader and viewer on a detailed visual journey. An artistic and creative book that takes advantage of the visual and verbal.

First published in France in 2023; published in translation by Europe Comics on May 24, 2023

Swamp is a graphic novel. It tells the story of three kids during a summer in the Bayou in 1930. An afterword explains that it is a tribute to Southern gothic literature. Johann G. Lewis underplays the grotesque themes that characterize Southern gothic, although racism provides a grotesque undercurrent to the story. The setting includes an abandoned steamboat that is said to be haunted, but the story has no significant elements of the supernatural. To me, the story echoes Huckleberry Finn in its creation of an interracial friendship that defies cultural expectations.

Otis and Red are eleven. They live in the bayou. Neither child’s parents believe white and black kids should mix — not because they are racists, but because it isn’t safe. Yet the kids bond over their shared interests: skipping school, playing pranks, swimming and fishing.

Otis and Red take an interest in a family that’s occupying a local mansion for the summer. The family consists of a 12-year-old Shelley, her governess, and her mother. Shelley has a heart condition and is not supposed to go outside, but hanging with Otis and Red proves to be more entertaining than sitting in the house all day. Shelley befriends them platonically and equally. This is a simpler time when kids aren’t distracted by gadgets or the pressure of becoming a sexual person.

Black adults are searching for a man who went missing but they won’t talk about his disappearance with Otis. Red’s mother does what she needs to do to pay the rent but Red doesn’t understand why strange men visit the house. A gang of men, protected by the Klansman Sheriff, are killing blacks and causing problems for everyone they dislike. Thugs are smashing the windows of the general store owner.

Red has a vague sense that things aren’t as they should be, but he is the embodiment of innocence. He thinks life is good. Soon enough, he’ll realize that life can be ugly. The reader won’t want Red to grow up, but the best to be hoped for is that he grows up to be a decent person.

The story’s ending is equally sad and hopeful. Nothing good lasts forever but change does not mean the world is ending. Red and Otis are on the verge of transitioning to an adulthood that will probably be difficult for them both, but they’re in no hurry to enter a world that they regard as needlessly complex.

The story makes a simple point, but its simplicity reflects its honesty. There is nothing natural about racism. Kids don’t care about skin color. They care about being kids. They learn to hate from adults who sabotage the possibility of interracial friendships.

The art is also simple. Most daylight panels are a wash of pale green, reflecting the life of the swamp where much of the action unfolds. The art conveys the swamp’s spookiness with burls and knots that make trees seem human. The story’s sweetness is captured in both the art and the innocence of its child characters.

RECOMMENDED

Set in America South in the 1930s this southern gothic graphic novel depicts a time when the emancipation of African Americans was far from accepted.
The story focuses on two pre-teen boys, a black and a white who befriend a girl their age who is visiting for the summer. Their status is very different but they become friends and enjoy their summer together, one of them with reservations because fear is part of their lives.
In the background, there is a murder and the mystery is solved by one of the kids (in a way) it helps to show how the adults think and act during this period. The struggle is evident for all after the 1920s.
The artwork is detailed with great penmanship and watercolor art. The story flows well. It reminds us of Mark Twain and other authors' works who inspired this project exploring the same themes: Poverty, racism, violence, crime, and unkindness.
I loved that the author included a steamboat, one broken and haunted that agrees with the mood of this story.

The color palette was nice and I liked the attention to detail. The author set the scene and racial tension of the time pretty well. The pace was slow and the story seems a bit underdeveloped. I'm not sure if the author intends to continue the story into another book, but if not, the ending leaves a lot of unanswered questions.

Such lovely illustrations and art, I loved the story and it shows some important and serious topics. This was such a cute story that shows us that kids see no colors, and that friends are important, It's sad to see how racist some people are and what's going on in the bayou. Overall a good story, I would've liked a longer or more explained ending.

This is definitely a slow burn of a Southern gothic -- almost a little too slow for me. I appreciated how the book tackled racial tensions that would have been common in the South, and how these fears and frustrations manifested through these three kids and their families. For me, the mystery was a little too vague -- I wish it'd had more details to bring it all together. Overall, an interesting graphic novel, but could have been developed a little more.

Thanks to Europe Comics and Netgalley for this early copy.

This was a bittersweet coming of age story set in the South. The pretty artwork set the scene for this tale of friendship. The darker side of humanity came out in the racist setting.

Really enjoyed the art and characters interwoven throughout the story. I felt the communities’ reactions were very realistic to the friendships within. The details in the art were what pulled me in. I wish there was a bit more to the ending, which is why I’m ranking the novel four stars. I hope it can be expanded in the future!