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The Tale of One Bad Rat Hardcover – 7 Aug 2008

by Bryan Talbot (Author)

13 customer reviews

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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.

The Tale of One Bad Rat

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Product details

Hardcover: 144 pages
Publisher: Jonathan Cape; 01 edition (7 Aug. 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0224084704
ISBN-13: 978-0224084703
Product Dimensions: 17 x 1.6 x 26.8 cm
Average Customer Review: 13 customer reviews
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 573,676 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #6391 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Publishers > Hamlyn
- #6522 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Publishers > Fantagraphics
- #6811 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Publishers > Titan Books

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Product description

Review

"'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)

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`Beautiful artwork and finely observed dialogue...a justly celebrated work'

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Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars

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Top customer reviews

A beautiful tale

Bymr i pattinsonon 15 January 2001

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.

0Comment 9 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Ratus Graphicus

ByThe Kinniburgh Kidon 8 August 2008

Format: HardcoverVerified 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.

0Comment 3 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

A classic. Beautifully written and drawn, but never shying away from the task in hand.

ByPaul Stapletonon 11 January 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.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

The tale of one brave girl

BySam Quixoteon 2 October 2010

Format: Hardcover

A 16 year old girl called Helen Potter leaves home, running from an abusive father and a mother who doesn't care. She finds herself begging on the streets of London and, along with her pet rat and a bag full of Beatrix Potter books, she begins a journey similar to Potter's out of her horrible situation into a place where she is safe and happy both in mind and body.

Bryan Talbot does a fantastic job depicting the horrors of street life in London. The sprawl, the crazies who are out there preying on the young and vulnerable, and those who would help them, namely those in similar circumstances albeit somewhat older. Talbot also deals with the issue of abuse delicately and yet brutally as well. We see the circumstances in which it happened and how it affected Helen. The psychological damage it does to a young mind is written clearly and honestly so those who haven't been abused (eg. me) could follow and begin to understand the victim's feelings.

Talbot also throws out facts about rats and their history, as well as the life story of Beatrix Potter. Helen's journey takes her to the Lake District which was Potter's home for many years and he draws absolutely stunning landscapes of the area. He also puts together a Beatrix Potter-esque story at the end of the book "written" by Helen. The artwork throughout is brilliant with Talbot opting for the first time to use human models to draw from to add an extra dimension of reality to the story.

Why this is labelled "Young Adult" is insulting as anyone should be able to read this without being put off that it might be "childish". It's a searingly honest look at a taboo issue in our society and deserves a wider audience than simply "young adults".

A brilliant and moving comic book from one of the masters of the medium, Bryan Talbot's "The Tale of One Bad Rat" is an utterly engrossing and wonderful read. Highly recommended.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

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Most recent customer reviews

Great

Nice hard-cover edition of a fine graphic novel. Good colour reproduction, perfect finish and size. Recommended.

Published 7 months ago by Knifeman

Touching approach to sensitive subject if unrealistic in it's time scale.

Very interesting story about a teenage runaway fleeing sexual abuse and neglect at the hands of her own parents.Read more

Published 11 months ago by Emma Horsfield Illustration

Double Thumbs Up!!

Taking more than four years to write and draw and published twenty years ago this powerfully and terribly relevant story deserves its praise by Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore.Read more

Published 1 year ago by 365 Graphic Novels

Double Thumbs Up!!

Taking more than four years to write and draw and published twenty years ago this powerfully and terribly relevant story deserves its praise by Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore.Read more

Published 1 year ago by 365 Graphic Novels

Five Stars

Excellent

Published on 11 May 2015 by Mrs. C.L. Cox

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!

Published on 29 March 2013 by Paul Griffiths

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 on 6 January 2013 by Emily - London

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

Published on 19 August 2008 by The Kinniburgh Kid

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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