Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Kris Kool by Caza

'Kris Kool' by Caza




I found out about 'Kris Kool', and Caza's webpage, via the 50 watts blog, a site devoted to offbeat book design and illustration. 

Caza's webpage is, of course, in French, but you can click on an English flag icon in the upper right corner to access the English language version. If you are a fan of Caza's works then be sure to check out the selection of eBooks available for download at affordable prices.

Among the older, out-of-print books available as eBooks is 'Kris Kool', Caza's first graphic novel / comic compilation. 'Kool' was published in 1970 by Eric Losfeld; printed copies are vanishingly rare. The eBook contains the entire original Kris Kool text, as well as supplemental material specially added to the eBook. [The price of 7 Euros translates into $9.00 US at current exchange rates.]

Reading Kris Kool is like stepping back in time to the late 60s and early 70s when I was a kid, and the psychedelic artwork epitomized by Peter Max (the pseudonym of German-born artist Peter Max Finkelstein) and the Beatle's film 'Yellow Submarine' were prominent.

However, even though he was just starting a career as a graphic artist, Caza's interpretation of the psychedelic art genre, as displayed in Kris Kool, is miles ahead of Peter Max.


The composition, draftsmanship, and coloration all are imaginative and pleasing to the eye. 

The text of Kris Kool is in French, but it's not necessary to know the language to get some idea of the plot. Kool is a sort of male, hippie, version of Barbarella.....


 
Caza inserts some adept visual humor, as in this scene involving a unique sci-fi 'love doll'..........
'Kris Kool' is well worth the download, which consists of both a pdf file, and an eBook file. I use Firefox's free eBook reader to view the book on my PC, and the preinstalled Lumiread software to view the book on my Acer (Android) tablet.

2 comments:

  1. Here the english re-edition, completely restored, of this amazing book ^_^ https://www.passengerpress.com/product/kris-kool-english-language-edition

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