Хранители

Ne nado bytʹ ėntuziastom massovoĭ kulʹtury, chtoby po pervym dvadt͡sati stranit͡sam poni͡atʹ, chto "Khraniteli" - obrazet͡s vysokogo, ochenʹ vysokogo iskusstva; a uzh chto budet na sledui͡ushchikh dvadt͡sati... Ne udivitelʹno, chto imenno ėtot roman chashche prochikh okazyvaetsi͡a na verkhneĭ strochke v spiskakh "komiksov dli͡a li͡udeĭ, kotorye ne chitai͡ut komiksy". Chutʹ li ne na kazhdoĭ stranit͡se iz-pod tebi͡a kak budto vyshibai͡ut stul; ikonopisʹ, dvigai͡ushchiesi͡a v rame okna figurki, podsvechennye potustoronnim svetom, - vot na chto ėto pokhozhe; i porazitelʹno, skolʹko tonkikh veshcheĭ mozhno peredatʹ ėtimi risunkami, kak tochno mozhno translirovatʹ ironii͡u - nu i bazovye chuvstva, konechno: strakh, sostradanie, li͡ubovʹ, unynie. Smysl v tom, chto... takoĭ komiks, kak "Khraniteli", - ėto sovershenno osobyĭ, vygli͡adi͡ashchiĭ strashno svezhim sposob rasskazyvatʹ istorii. I ėto imenno literatura, nikoim obrazom ne, naprimer, zhivopisʹ... Ėto roman, rasshiri͡ai͡ushchiĭ predstavlenie o literature voobshche, o eë vozmozhnosti͡akh - i sposobnosti͡akh k transformat͡sii. I ėto radikalʹnoe obnovlenie, kapitalʹnyĭ remont, samai͡a vydai͡ushchai͡asi͡a za poslednie desi͡atiletii͡a mutat͡sii͡a zhanra. (Lev Danilkin "Afisha".)

You don't need to be an enthusiast of mass culture to understand from the first twenty pages that "Keepers" is an example of high, very high art; and what will happen in the next twenty... It is not surprising that this novel is most often at the top of the list of "comics for people who do not read comics". Almost every page feels like a chair is kicked out from under you; iconography, figures moving in the window frame, illuminated by an otherworldly light-that's what it looks like; and it's amazing how many subtle things can be conveyed by these drawings, how accurately you can translate irony — and the basic feelings, of course: fear, compassion, love, despondency. The point is that... a comic like "the Guardians" is a very special, terribly fresh — looking way of telling stories. And this is literature, in no way, for example, painting... This is a novel that expands the idea of literature in General, of its possibilities — and the ability to transform. And this is a radical update, a major overhaul, the most outstanding mutation of the genre in recent decades. (Lev Danilkin "Afisha".)