The Man of Glass is a 44 page, full color, one-shot / graphic novella from the nice people at Accent UK. The book is written and illustrated by Danish creator, Martin Flink.

The book is already available directly from Accent UK’s website, and has just appeared in the October issue of Diamond’s Previews magazine, for titles being distributed in December 2010. The book is 42 pages for £ 3.95 / $ 5.95 USD, and carries a Diamond order code of OCT100732 (ISBN 978-0-9555764-3-0). The book even has a spotlight listing on page 218 of Previews, so be sure to check that out!

It’s hard to say too much about this book without ruining the story, so rather than summarizing the plot, I’ll give you the official blurb, so I don’t give out any spoilers:

“He had a beautiful girlfriend, a promising career, good friends and a lovely son. Today he sits in the park with a beer, all his belongings in two plastic bags, watching the world passing by. How did he get there? And what happened to all the good things he had going for him?”

When I first received this comic in the mail, I opened the package, took a look at the cover, and assumed this would be a story about boxing. With this in mind, I put the book aside, because I’m really not much of a sports fan. A few days later, I saw the book sitting in my reading pile (which is so large that it almost generates its own gravity), and decided to give it a shot. Well, I couldn’t have been more wrong, the story has very little to do with boxing… it just goes to show, you really can’t judge a book by its cover!

There are two storylines running through the book, the first follows the life a young man with a successful career, a beautiful girlfriend, and a young son; and the second follows that of a destitute old man, living on the streets,  with nothing to his name, other than a couple of shopping bags, and the clothes on his back. As the story progresses we realize that these two men are one and the same, and the tale eventually reveals the terrible events that have led to this drastic change in the character’s fate.

The story is told with very few words, making it an ‘almost silent’ story, in the vein of cartoonists such as Jason and Bob Byrne. It’s a bold move, and very few can pull off such a comic story, but Flink makes it works to stunning effect here! Flink lets the artwork speak for itself, telling us a tale of raw emotions, unadulterated by the flavouring of language. Flink’s linework on the book is very minimalistic, with bold broad brushstrokes that make everything seem larger than life.  He has tremendous attention to detail, with an emphasis on the character’s expressions - there’s a great one-page scene where the protagonist and his girlfriend are in the cinema, watching a movie, and she leans over and whispers something unheard into his ear, and while we have no idea what she has told him, we find out everything we need to know by the subtle changes in the character’s expression - from shock, to confusion, to contentment, and finally ending with happiness - all done in a couple of frames, where little else changes but the look on the character’s face

The Man of Glass is beautiful story about how fragile life is, and how everything that we take for granted can be washed away, in one fell swoop. The story builds to an incredibly sad ending that is sure to break you heart. If you’re a sucker for an emotional story, you may want to keep some tissues on hand, because this one might just make you cry!

I can’t recommend this marvelous comic highly enough! Make sure to tell your retailer to order you a copy from this month’s Previews catalog (OCT100732). It’s a perfect addition to Accent UK’s growing library of fantastic titles, and marks Martin Flink as a cartoonist to watch for in the coming years!

Related posts:

1. Advance Small Press Comic Review: Western - Accent UK’s 2009 Anthology
2. Comic Review - Aladdin: Legacy of the Lost #1
3. Small Press Comic Review - Arthur: The Legend Continues #1
4. Small Press Comic Review: Omnitarium #1
5. Comic Review: Orang Utan Studios’ FTL #4