''Shutterbug Follies'' is a

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

created by Jason Little. The book was released as a weekly

webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Webcomics can be ...

and newspaper series, and was published in its entirety by Doubleday in 2002. The series continued in 2005 under the title '' Motel Art Improvement Service''.

Plot

The book features the character Bee, who is a photographer and photo lab technician. She is just out of high school, and has taken a job at a one-hour photo lab in lower

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

. She has the habit of copying interesting photos that she develops. Bee begins to investigate some of her clients when she develops the pictures of several dead bodies. She begins to suspect Oleg Khatchatourian, a crime scene photographer, has murdered his wife when she turns up dead after Bee witnesses a fight between the two.

Reception

Awards

The series won an

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 ...

in 2002 for Outstanding Online Comic, another Ignatz Award in 2003 for Outstanding Artist, and was nominated for a

Harvey Award The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards that we ...

in 2003 for Best Graphic Album of Original Work.

Criticism

''Shutterbug Follies'' has been reviewed favorably by ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' and the ''

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with ...

''.

Mark Frauenfelder Mark Frauenfelder (born November 22, 1960) is a blogger, illustrator, and journalist. He was editor-in-chief of the magazine '' MAKE'' and is co-owner of the collaborative weblog ''Boing Boing''. Along with his wife, Carla Sinclair, he founded the ...

, reviewing the webcomic for ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

'', called the artwork "superb". The book was banned in a Texas high school, citing profanity and sexual content.

Style

Little uses several techniques in ''Shutterbug Follies'' to draw comparison to

photography Photography is the visual art, art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It i ...

. A few

panel Panel may refer to: Arts and media Visual arts *Panel (comics), a single image in a comic book, comic strip or cartoon; also, a comic strip containing one such image * Panel painting, in art, either one element of a multi-element piece of art ...

s imitate the style of a

fisheye lens A fisheye lens is an ultra wide-angle lens that produces strong visual distortion intended to create a wide panoramic or hemispherical image. Fisheye lenses achieve extremely wide angles of view, well beyond any rectilinear lens. Instead of p ...

. Several others use rounded borders that are similar to old-fashioned photographs. The shape of the book itself is suggestive of a photo album. Little utilizes colors strongly in the book. Photo-negative colors are used extensively, and can be seen on the cover. The narrative style has been likened to a mix between ''

Rear Window ''Rear Window'' is a 1954 American mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by John Michael Hayes based on Cornell Woolrich's 1942 short story "It Had to Be Murder". Originally released by Paramount Pictures, the film ...

'' and '' Ghost World''. Little has described the book as "bubblegum noir".

References

{{reflist, 33em

External links

Beekeeper Cartoon Amusements
Jason Little's official website Doubleday (publisher) books 2000s webcomics 2000 webcomic debuts 2002 graphic novels Mystery comics Webcomics in print