''Louis'' is a

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

series created by

metaphrog Metaphrog are graphic novelists Sandra Marrs and John Chalmers, best known for making the ''Louis (comic), Louis'' series of comics. History Marrs is originally from France, where she studied Arts and Letters. Chalmers is from the west of Scotl ...

, the Franco-Scottish duo Sandra Marrs and John Chalmers.

Series overview

Louis is an unasumming worker who lives in Hamlet with his companion FC (short for Formulaic Companion), his pet mechanical bird. He spends his days filling bottles with air, making fruit, and writing to imaginary aunts. His neighbours Clean and Jerk often try to get him into trouble. In ''The Guardian'', Julie Burchill has said of Louis that he is the "most adorable character", while ''The Comics Journal'' wrote: "Louis himself is cut from the same cloth as Charlie Brown and Jimmy Corrigan". ''Louis - Red Letter Day'' was published on

Serializer.net Serializer.net was a webcomic subscription service and artist collective published by Joey Manley and edited by Tom Hart and Eric Millikin that existed from 2002 to 2013. Designed to showcase artistic alternative webcomics using the unique natu ...

.Burchill, Julie (August 23, 2003)
"Weekend: THE GRAPHIC TRUTH"
''The Guardian '', Guardian Weekend Pages, Pg. 5. ''i-D'' described ''Louis - Red Letter Day'' thus: "With squibs for eyes and delicately inked circles for nose and mouth, Louis' reduced features magically express a life spent daydreaming, writing letters to possibly fictional aunts and reading signs that say 'you look like a potato'. Infused with shadowless light and written in precisely elusive balloons Louis - Red Letter Day is a seriously spaced enigma from Metaphrog aka Glaswegian cult artists John Chalmers and Sandra Marrs. Like nothing else around." Six graphic novels have been released so far. Their fourth, Louis - Dreams Never Die, was released in 2004 in association with the UK based label

Fat Cat Records FatCat Records is an English independent record label based in Brighton. The label's output reaches into many styles including experimental rock, electronica, psychedelic folk, contemporary classical, noise and post-punk. Notable artists that ...

. For this, Hey (from Berlin) and

múm Múm (stylized in lowercase) () is an Icelandic indietronica band whose music is characterized by soft vocals, electronic glitch beats and effects, and a variety of traditional and unconventional instruments. History The band was formed in ...

(from Iceland) wrote two music tracks inspired by the Louis books, and metaphrog made a special short animation. The result was a multimedia project with a

and cd/blue vinyl 7". In 2011, they redrew and repainted Louis - Red Letter Day and this new version was published in hardback.

Publication history

*''Louis - Red Letter Day'' (2000) *''Louis - Lying to Clive'' (2001) *''Louis - The Clown's Last Words'' (2002) *''Louis - Dreams Never Die'' (2004) *''Louis - Night Salad'' (2010) *''Louis - Red Letter Day'' New Edition (2011)

Awards and recognition

Louis is a multiple

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...

and

Ignatz Award The Ignatz Awards recognize outstanding achievements in comics and cartooning by small press creators or creator-owned projects published by larger publishers. They have been awarded each year at the Small Press Expo since 1997, only skipping a ...

nominee.
''Louis - Red Letter Day'':

nominations for "Best Title for a Younger Audience" and "Best Graphic Album - New, 2000

nomination, "Promising New Talent", 2001
''Louis - Night Salad''

nomination for "Best Coloring", 2011

Highly Commended for the Scottish Children's Book Awards, 2011
Leeds Graphic Novel Awards shortlist, 2011
YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens longlist, 2011

Sources

* Review of Louis - Night Salad in The Comics Journal: http://classic.tcj.com/alternative/louis-night-salad-by-metaphrog/ * Burchill, Julie (August 23, 2003). "Weekend: THE GRAPHIC TRUTH". ''The Guardian '' https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2003/aug/23/weekend.julieburchill * Review of Louis - Dreams Never Die in Publishers Weekly: https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-9545984-0-2

References

* Kodwo Eshun, ''i-D'' (December 2000), "Lil' Louis". * Ian Brill, ''The Comics Journal'' (June–July, 2005), #268, "Louis and the technicolor Orwellian nightmare". * Review of Louis - Dreams Never Die in Publishers Weekly: https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-9545984-0-2 * Review of Louis - Night Salad in The Comics Journal: http://classic.tcj.com/alternative/louis-night-salad-by-metaphrog/

External links

Official metaphrog site

metaphrog blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Louis (Comic) Scottish graphic novels Scottish comics characters Comics publications 2000 comics debuts British graphic novels