Comics Bulletin logo
Search
  • Columns
    Random
    • Remembering Nintendo Power

      Jason Sacks
      August 26, 2012
      Columns
    Recent
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 2

      Daniel Gehen
      December 4, 2020
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 1

      Daniel Gehen
      October 30, 2020
    • Comictober 2020: DRACULA MOTHERF**KER

      Daniel Gehen
      October 27, 2020
    • What Looks Good
    • Comics Bulletin Soapbox
    • The Full Run
    • Leading Question
    • Top 10
    • The Long-Form
    • Jumping On
    • Comics in Color
    • Slouches Towards Comics
  • Big Two
    Random
    • What Looks Good for July 7, 2020

      Jason Sacks
      July 7, 2020
      DC Comics, Image, Vault Comics, What Looks Good
    Recent
    • 4.5

      DCeased: Dead Planet #7 Presents a Hopeful Future (Review)

      Daniel Gehen
      January 22, 2021
    • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

      Daniel Gehen
      December 3, 2020
    • Stan Lee

      nguyen ly
      November 7, 2020
    • DC Comics
    • Big Two Reviews
    • Marvel Comics
  • Indie
    Random
    • Review: 'COSMIC SCOUNDRELS' #1

      Jason Sacks
      March 5, 2017
      IDW, Indie, Reviews
    Recent
    • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

      Daniel Gehen
      December 14, 2020
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 2

      Daniel Gehen
      December 4, 2020
    • 4.5

      TMNT: The Last Ronin #1 Lives Up to the Hype (Review)

      Daniel Gehen
      October 29, 2020
    • Reviews
    • Archie Comics
    • Boom! Studios
    • Dark Horse
    • IDW
    • Image
    • Oni Press
    • Valiant
  • Reviews
    Random
    • Review: 'Sensation Comics Vol. 1': Not So Sensational

      Jason Sacks
      March 2, 2015
      Digital Comics, Reviews
    Recent
    • 4.5

      DCeased: Dead Planet #7 Presents a Hopeful Future (Review)

      Daniel Gehen
      January 22, 2021
    • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

      Daniel Gehen
      December 14, 2020
    • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

      Daniel Gehen
      December 3, 2020
    • Singles Going Steady
    • Slugfest
    • Manga
      • Reviews
    • Small Press
      • Reviews
      • ICYMI
      • Tiny Pages Made of Ashes
  • Interviews
    Random
    • Sean McKeever: Keep an Eye on Ravager and Rikki -- These Girls will Mess You Up

      Jason Sacks
      July 9, 2009
      Interviews
    Recent
    • Interview: Jon Davis-Hunt Talks SHADOWMAN

      Daniel Gehen
      June 8, 2020
    • Interview: Becky Cloonan talks DARK AGNES and Her Personal Influences

      Mike Nickells
      March 4, 2020
    • Simon Roy

      Interview: Simon Roy on His Inspirations and Collaborations on PROTECTOR

      Mike Nickells
      January 29, 2020
    • Audio Interview
    • Video Interview
  • Classic Comics
    Random
    • Bernie Wrightson's 'Creepshow' is Back and Scarier Than Ever

      Jason Sacks
      May 16, 2017
      Books, Classic Comics Cavalcade, Reviews
    Recent
    • Countdown to the King: Marvel’s Godzilla

      Daniel Gehen
      May 29, 2019
    • Honoring A Legend: Fantagraphics To Resurrect Tomi Ungerer Classics

      Daniel Gehen
      February 15, 2019
    • Reliving the Craziest Decade in Comics History: An interview with Jason Sacks

      Mark Stack
      January 2, 2019
    • Classic Comics Cavalcade
    • Classic Interviews
  • News
    Random
    • This Christmas, Please Help Comic Artist Norm Breyfogle

      Jason Sacks
      December 25, 2014
      DC Comics, News
    Recent
    • 2020 Ringo Awards Winners Announced

      Daniel Gehen
      October 26, 2020
    • BAD IDEA Announces 2021 Publishing Slate

      Daniel Gehen
      September 29, 2020
    • A Full Replay of NCSFest 2020 is now Available

      Daniel Gehen
      September 15, 2020
    • Press Release
    • Kickstarter Spotlight
  • Books
    Random
    • Interview: M.K. Reed Explores Facts and Legends About Dinosaurs (and Her Imagination)

      Jason Sacks
      August 24, 2016
      Books
    Recent
    • Collecting Profile: Disney Frozen

      CB Staff
      November 22, 2019
    • Collecting Profile: NFL Superpro

      CB Staff
      August 31, 2019
    • “THE BEST OF WITZEND” is a Wonderful Celebration of Artistic Freedom

      Daniel Gehen
      September 15, 2018
    • Review: ‘Machete Squad’ is a Disappointing Afghan Memoir

      Jason Sacks
      July 31, 2018
    • Review: ‘Out of Nothing’ is the Antidote to Our Sick Times

      Jason Sacks
      July 23, 2018
    • Review: ‘Bizarre Romance’ Shows Rough Edges in the Early Days of a New Marriage

      Jason Sacks
      July 10, 2018
What's New
  • Collecting Profile: If I win Powerball, I will buy Amazing Fantasy 15
  • DCeased: Dead Planet #7 Presents a Hopeful Future (Review)
  • Collecting Profile: Batwoman
  • Collecting Profile: Daredevil
  • Collecting Profile: Floronic Man
  • Review of Cheetah in Wonder Woman 1984
  • RSS Feed
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Contact Us
  • Write for us!
  • Visit Video Game Break!
Home
Books

Review: ‘Prisoner 155’ is a Remarkable Portrait of a Political Revolutionary

Jason Sacks
May 7, 2018
Books

Prisoner 155 begins with desolation. When we first meet Simón Radowitzky, he is a solitary man trapped in a brutal prison in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. We witness him beaten savagely by indifferent guards and is forced to withstand a pitilessly frigid prison cell as he heals from the savagery for which he has been inflicted. The opening scenes should be a harbinger of fear and despair for the reader. Yet in the masterful hands of cartoonist Agustín Comotto, this moment doesn’t bring pity or anger.

Instead, the first few pages of this excellent graphic novel put the reader in a strange sense of grace, allowing us to bask in the kind of blissful indifference Radowitzky seems to feel at his torment. It’s not that the prison doesn’t have a bruising effect on the man; instead, he possesses such a natural and peaceful sense of calm that he seems the pain and torment exist outside of him.

As Comotto explores his subject, Radowitzky comes more and more alive on the printed page. We learn this Russian boy was once happy but never was content. He was a prodigious and rebellious reader, a boy of poor financial prospects but possessed of intelligence that pushed him towards rebellion against the brutal czar. He has a desperate need to keep his mind free even if his body was trapped in terrifying circumstances.

The centerpiece of this compelling graphic novel is a dramatic escape from prison, told in a stately way that emphasizes the drama of the moment by playing down its thrills. The terrifying thrill of the escape is felt internally rather than externally, a feeling that befits its lead subject perfectly. Added to that is the complexity of Radowitzky’s life after his escape, which is shown as much more prosaic and ordinary than he might have dreamed it would be.

Agustín Comotto delivers a compelling graphic novel that displays a remarkable empathy for its subject in a series of subtle gestures and small moments of strength. His art appears loose but conveys its subject perfectly and brings the world of the early 20th century alive in ways that can only work in comics.

The life story of Simón Radowitzky may be familiar to those who study the world’s revolutionaries, but it never falls into a pedantic or declarative style. This biography is subjective rather than objective. Under Comotto’s adept approach, readers are carried along with a vision of Radowitzky that paints him as a bit of a tragic figure, a man who was never able to rediscover his ephemeral true love and who finds himself a man without a country.

Prisoner 155 ends with a 65-year-old Radowitzky in Mexico, sadly reliving his past moments. In a final, fascinating screen, Comotto shows Radowitzky setting free the pigeons he held on his roof. Fittingly, a book that ends with a man in chains ends with that same man delivering freedom unto others. In between, his martyrdom and steadfast courage served as a demonstration of his inner strength but also of his greatest weakness. In the end, Simón Radowitzky was like so many of us: a man of deep inner convictions and complexity who simply aimed to be the best man he could be.

This may be the first graphic novel from publisher AK Press, which is best known for its historical and political nonfiction but Agustín Comotto makes a great case for them to find more great volumes to accompany this compelling work of nonfiction.

Agustín ComottoAK PressRevolutionSimón Radowitzky

Share On:
Tweet
Action Comics #1000 and the Return of Superman’s underpants
FCBD 2018: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Offers a Return to Form for Marvel’s Mascot

About The Author

<a href="https://comicsbulletin.com/byline/jason-sacks/" rel="tag">Jason Sacks</a>
Jason Sacks
Publisher Emeritus
Google+

Jason Sacks has been obsessed with pop culture for longer than he'd like to remember. Jason has been writing for Comics Bulletin for nearly a decade, producing over a million words of content about comics, films and other media. He has also been published in a number of publications, including the late, lamented Amazing Heroes, The Flash Companion and The American Comic Book Chronicles: the 1970s,1980s and 1990s. Find him on Facebook and Twitter. Jason is the Publisher Emeritus of Comics Bulletin.

Related Posts

  • Singles Going Steady 9/21/2016: Can’t We All Just Get Along?

    Daniel Gehen, Jay Mattson, Lukas Schmitt
    September 24, 2016
  • 3.5

    Review: Night Stalker #1

    Jason Sacks
    July 6, 2012

Support Us!

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Friends of the Site

  • SOLRAD
  • Your Chicken Enemy
  • Psycho Drive-In
  • Women Write About Comics
  • The Beat
  • Loser City
RSSTwitterFacebookgoogleplusinstagramtumblr

Comics Bulletin is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for website owners to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, audible.com, and any other website that may be affiliated with Amazon Service LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, Comics Bulletin earns from qualifying purchases.

All content on this site (c) 2018 The Respective Copyright Holders