Winner of the Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album Reprint, The Tale of One Bad Rat is the story of a young girl, Helen Potter, who runs away from home to escape an uncaring mother and a sexually abusive father. Eventually she finds her way to the Lake District, drawn there by her love of the work of Beatrix Potter, and in that beautiful landscape she at last finds peace.
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'It would be easy to simply categorise The Tale of One Bad Rat as a fine fiction about overcoming the effects of abuse. And it is that, but it is more than that: it's a lovingly crafted story about, in the end, the meaning and value of fiction and art, about what we take from the past, and what we bring to the future. With it, Bryan Talbot moves into the front rank of writer/artists.' (Neil Gaiman )
An ingenious, intertextual narrative that interweaves the charming, whimsical and, above all, the English vision of Beatrix Potter with a vision of England as it has become; the soft juxtaposed with the savage; Peter Rabbit lost in Cardboard City. Thoroughly excellent. (Alan Moore )
An ingenious, intertextual narrative that interweaves the charming, whimsical and, above all, the English vision of Beatrix Potter with a vision of England as it has become; the soft juxtaposed with the savage; Peter Rabbit lost in Cardboard City. Thoroughly excellent. (Alan Moore )
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`Beautiful artwork and finely observed dialogue...a justly celebrated work'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
One Bad Rat is a beautiful comic, entirely unlike anything I have seen before. With no fantasy elements (well, apart from the giant imaginary rat) the story stands on the telling and the art. A young girl escapes her abusive father and unloving mother, running first to London and then the Lake District, where she finds a surrogate family. It all sounds like a TV movie, but is far superior to subject of the week fodder. The story is less melodramatic, the detail better observed, the colour more vivid and (yes) the acting is more believable.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a very nicely produced hardback edition collecting together the whole story.
I ordered it based on the reputation of the book from blogs and the like and I was not disappointed. In fact, I sat up late to read all the way to the end.
First published in 1995, the plot is now perhaps a little less surprising and shocking than it was back then, but it remains a very moving story, with characters that feel real and that you care about.
Like a good thriller you find yourself hoping the story will go in a certain direction while simultaneously fearing the opposite. It is highly effective and moving stuff.
By mistake I ordered two copies, but in fact that has turned out to be a good thing because it is one of those books you will want to pass on to others.
I ordered it based on the reputation of the book from blogs and the like and I was not disappointed. In fact, I sat up late to read all the way to the end.
First published in 1995, the plot is now perhaps a little less surprising and shocking than it was back then, but it remains a very moving story, with characters that feel real and that you care about.
Like a good thriller you find yourself hoping the story will go in a certain direction while simultaneously fearing the opposite. It is highly effective and moving stuff.
By mistake I ordered two copies, but in fact that has turned out to be a good thing because it is one of those books you will want to pass on to others.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic. Beautifully written and drawn, but never shying away from the task in hand.
11 Jan 2012
Format:Hardcover
Bryan Talbot's name is most associated with 200AD comic, as he provided strips for Blaine, Nemesis The Warolck and Judge Dredd. But after several years of superheroes and the supernatural, he wrote and drew The Tale Of One Bad Rat, a beautifully scripted and rendered voyage of a young girl doing battle with the spectre of sexual abuse.
The story starts with Helen homeless on the platform of Tottenham Court Road tube station, begging for change and being harangued by an over-zealous Christian crusader. After encounters with a trio of prostitutes and an amorous and sleazy MP, she falls in with some well-meaning but occasionally volatile squatters. Events take a sudden turn for the worse, and she hitches out of London when her recent past starts catching up with her. From this point it's a visual and personal tour-de-force, as Helen begins to work on the source of her demons against the stunning backdrop of the Lake District.
As Alice In Sunderland (one of Bryan Talbot's later books) focused on the links between Sunderland and Lewis Carroll, One Bad Rat ties itself with the life, works and movements of Beatrix Potter. The title and cover both pay homage to the range of books penned by Potter, and Helen has a long-standing obsession them. Furthermore, a series of enounters and locations in the Lake District echo her life and movements through that part of the country, which is where she drew a lot of her inspiration.
The Tale Of One Bad Rat is still in print, and is a comic I can't recommend enough. It's wonderfully written, with a good deal of research into and, more importantly, sensitivity to the obviously charged subject matter. The characterisation is strong and Bryan Talbot made a point of drawing from life models, which adds the grit and emotion necessary to the proceedings.
Visually it hits the right notes all the way, from the gaudy neon-dappled drizzle of East End London to the epic vistas of the Lakes. Comic books are by nature static in their presentation, but The Tale of One Bad Rat feels very much like a moving road trip.
The story starts with Helen homeless on the platform of Tottenham Court Road tube station, begging for change and being harangued by an over-zealous Christian crusader. After encounters with a trio of prostitutes and an amorous and sleazy MP, she falls in with some well-meaning but occasionally volatile squatters. Events take a sudden turn for the worse, and she hitches out of London when her recent past starts catching up with her. From this point it's a visual and personal tour-de-force, as Helen begins to work on the source of her demons against the stunning backdrop of the Lake District.
As Alice In Sunderland (one of Bryan Talbot's later books) focused on the links between Sunderland and Lewis Carroll, One Bad Rat ties itself with the life, works and movements of Beatrix Potter. The title and cover both pay homage to the range of books penned by Potter, and Helen has a long-standing obsession them. Furthermore, a series of enounters and locations in the Lake District echo her life and movements through that part of the country, which is where she drew a lot of her inspiration.
The Tale Of One Bad Rat is still in print, and is a comic I can't recommend enough. It's wonderfully written, with a good deal of research into and, more importantly, sensitivity to the obviously charged subject matter. The characterisation is strong and Bryan Talbot made a point of drawing from life models, which adds the grit and emotion necessary to the proceedings.
Visually it hits the right notes all the way, from the gaudy neon-dappled drizzle of East End London to the epic vistas of the Lakes. Comic books are by nature static in their presentation, but The Tale of One Bad Rat feels very much like a moving road trip.
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4.8 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
special
This is a special book, just discovered Bryan talbots work
and started to collect all of it hes such a great artist,and teller of a tale!
and started to collect all of it hes such a great artist,and teller of a tale!
Published 1 month ago by Paul Griffiths
5.0 out of 5 stars
If Beatrix Potter was a graphic novelist....
Bryan Talbot wanted to shift from Sci-Fi graphic novels. He might have written a graphic documentary of the Lake District. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Emily - London
5.0 out of 5 stars
The tale of one brave girl
A 16 year old girl called Helen Potter leaves home, running from an abusive father and a mother who doesn't care. Read more
Published on 2 Oct 2010 by Noel
5.0 out of 5 stars
Queen Rat
This is a very nicely produced hardback edition collecting together the whole story.
I ordered it based on the reputation of the book from blogs and the like and I was... Read more
I ordered it based on the reputation of the book from blogs and the like and I was... Read more
Published on 19 Aug 2008 by The Kinniburgh Kid
4.0 out of 5 stars
Huggable Rat
Boyish-looking Helen runs away from an abusive home to live as a beggar on the streets of London. The only creature she trusts in the whole world is a pet rat she freed from her... Read more
Published on 9 May 2008 by Oliver Redfern
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