Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

And the interior illustration: the one in that went along with the signature.   I'm an autograph whore, especially at Readercon, especially at the ChiZine booth.   I just am.   I didn't bother looking into this book before I bought it, because ChiZine doesn't let me down.  They don't bother with anyone who doesn't produce quality work. 

So I was surprised in a couple ways when I opened this up.   In the comments to my previous post there are people saying how lovely this cover is.   I figured I'd get that quality throughout.   And I did.   The quality of the images - the composition and color, the quality with which they are made - is the same.   Except that they're more intimate, the more so as the story goes on, maybe just because I got to know Paranorma more as this story progressed.  I didn't expect this to be an illustrated poetry - which I felt it was - but I was also more and more pleased as I read it.   The rather simple story it tells belies what it says about loneliness and the stigma of being different: there's not a whole lot of words here, and they all rhyme, at times in a way that feels just slightly forced since they aren't all true rhymes, but the words that are there pack a punch.   Still, this wouldn't be this book, this beautiful five star book without the interior illustrations.   They capture the spookiness of this gothic poem, the awe inspiring sense of loneliness and the need for a companion, all the while emphasizing the message this story sends. 

Shatteringly gorgeous and lush, each illustration seemed to get better and better, until I thought they couldn't get better.   Then they got better.   It's like Marcone slowly builds up to see if he can defy the expectations, and then he does.  I would buy anything else that Marcone illustrated.   Anything.   Even a book of illustrated Bieber lyrics, and I think Bieber lyrics are the most inane thing ever in the history of everything ever. 

Anything, guys.   Go out.   Buy this book if you like the cover.  You will be blown away by the art inside. 

Also, note, there is a red cardinal on every page.  I'm stupid and/or blind and couldn't see some of them. I got frustrated, until I looked at the pretty, pretty pictures and melted in pleasure.   Yes, more please.   I forgot all about the cardinals.   For those into that kind of gothic where's Waldo - but not quite as hard - you'll be into that aspect, too.   Oh, also, read the short bio in the back.   Marcone talks about how he creates his art, and it's absolutely fascinating!