Ashes

January 20, 2023

Ortiz's (Viajes) English-language debut is a cinematic road-trip graphic novel with a pervasive, eerie calm. Unlikely compatriots Polly, a perpetual barista; Moho, a mediocre music critic; and Piter, a sullen caregiver, reunite uneasily after an extended estrangement, to follow a fourth, absent friend's map to an unusual locale. As the three ramble along in a junky rental car, Ortiz reveals the passengers' pasts, their intertwined disappointments, and the personal struggles which make their bonds both uneasy and binding. At the same time, their quest places them in increasingly challenging, dangerous, and absurd situations, the most perilous of these involving banjo-strumming hitmen brothers in the employ of a cranky country-music star. At its heart, though surface drama abounds, the story circles around, meditates on, and ultimately admires the trio's mundanity and mortality in a subtle, lyrical fashion. Ortiz's illustrations are friendly and funny, calling to mind Guy Delisle's rich studies of complex characters in light line-drawings. VERDICT An adventure paced like a madcap movie plot, with underlying minor chords of identity and relationship echoing throughout, this is a satisfying introduction to Ortiz's narrative and artistic talents for an English-language audience.--Emilia Packard

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2023
Through a winding road trip guided by a mysterious map, three old friends reunite and face their old demons while trapped in a car with a monkey. Polly unites her old friends Piter and Moho for a road trip, though they initially don't know why. Once they're together, Polly reveals that their friend H�ctor died in an accident, and the three of them have been tasked with spreading his ashes at a spot marked with an X on a map. Moho brings along his monkey, Andr�s. By looping flashbacks throughout the story, Ortiz reveals how these characters (even the monkey) got to where they are and what regrets and dreams they're still harboring for their lives. The road trip takes them to unexpected locations like abandoned shipyards and roadside wrestling competitions. Ortiz's classic cartoon art style lends itself well to the wacky and surprising elements of his road trip story, while the characters' reasons for growing apart and coming back together feel true. Ortiz's English debut will be perfect for fans of Guy Delisle's work.

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January 9, 2023
In Ortiz’s winning English-language debut, he puts a personal spin on a classic road-trip narrative with a blend of deadpan comedy, philosophizing, and crime-film-style action. Former friends Polly, Moho, and Piter are reunited on a cross-country mission to scatter their friend Hector’s ashes at a mysterious location named in his will. The journey takes them to such eclectic locales as a ship graveyard, a drug dealer’s mansion, and a roadside luchador bar. “The only thing missing was a dwarf and it would be a David Lynch movie,” Piter observes. Along the way, the ensemble reflect on the wrong turns they’ve made in life—even Moho’s pet monkey gets his own flashbacks. Those mistakes threaten to catch up to them in the form of twin goons sent by “the Cowboy” to exact revenge for music critic Moho slandering him. Ortiz’s squiggly, brightly colored art keeps the narrative light even when it veers into dark territory. The pages, densely packed without feeling cramped, set an easygoing visual rhythm appropriate to the characters’ affably rambling adventure. This laid-back, sneakily smart charmer should garner Ortiz a new audience.