The Wrong Place — Brecht Evens

The Wrong Place

2009

176 pages

First published in dutch as Ergens waar je niet wil zijn in 2009, with Uitgeverij Oogachtend

LANGUAGES: NL: 'Ergens waar je niet wil zijn', Oogachtend / FR: 'Les Noceurs', Actes Sud / EN: 'The Wrong Place', Drawn & Quarterly / ES: 'Un Lugar Equivocado', Sinsentido / DE: 'Am Falschen Ort', Reprodukt / NOR: 'Pa Feil Sted', No Comprendo Press / KOR: '디스코 하렘', Mimesis

Review:

By James Smart, 15 Nov ‘11 , the Guardian

The Wrong Place by Brecht Evens

"There's always a party going on somewhere in Belgian cartoonist Evens's gorgeous fourth book, which uses watercolours to wonderful effect. Evens gives us riotous nightclubs, bulging tube trains and a one-night stand of shapes and smudges, but is just as fascinated by an awkward silence as by a good dancefloor. The book follows the relationship between Gary, a man so ostensibly colourless that he moves in shades of grey, and Robbie, a mysterious party animal who proceeds through the city like the Pied Piper, accepting compliments from almost everyone he passes. In his first story, Robbie's absence bleeds the life from Gary's house party; in the second he leaps from a pot plant to ravish shy Naomi; in the third a heart-to-heart turns into a fencing bout. Robbie takes strange routes through the city. Evens adopts similar tactics, painting a scene from behind a chair, or leading the eye in unexpected directions, to follow red hair through a crowd or conversations up a stairwell. The result is an invigorating tale of discomfort and joy, with artwork that captivates."