The Stop Button

New York Mon Amour is an interesting love letter to eighties New York City. It’s both realistic and fanciful. Jacques Tardi–who only actually writes one of the four stories in Mon Amour–varies his style depending on the story’s tone.

The first story, “Cockroach Killer,” written by Benjamin Legrand, is hyper-realistic. The story features a lot of hallucinations and incredible imagery, but Tardi’s New York is better than a photograph. There’s a fumetti postscript and one has to wonder if the photographs were some of Tardi’s reference materials.

It’s a great story, full of modern urban intrigue, but also a lot of examination on that state of immigrants. It’s just outstanding.

The next story is sort of a side sequel. “It’s So Hard…,” written by Dominique Grange, follows a guy who’s unlucky enough to look (almost) just like a famous New Yorker of the era. While the settings are real, Tardi doesn’t spend as much time on them. It’s about the protagonist and his discontent.

The third story, “Manhattan,” is the only one Tardi pens. It’s not a real New York, it’s a New York out of Taxi Driver and other Scorsese pictures. There’s even commentary on the connection, as the protagonist unhappily moves about the city. The art deserves a thoughtful analysis when compared to “Cockroach.”

Grange writes the finale, “Hung’s Murderer,” which again examines the immigrant situation. Interestingly, the immigrants are never French. It’s a nice little story.

New York Mon Amour is amazing disaffected fiction.