Body and Soul

Body and Soul

Self-centered, oversexed and unsympathetic French characters populate Body and Soul.

Mrs. Lopez, a 50-year-old woman, is trying to use plastic surgery to maintain her youth. Her husband, Victor, is working himself to death. He is trying to get the rights to a book from an elderly woman named Mrs. Fruttero. Their two daughters, Agnes and an unnamed younger sister, are not falling too far from the tree. Agnes is in a relationship with a man that owes a lot of money to a street thug.  Her sister is fat and a shoplifter. A lonely man, Jean-Pierre, feels invisible. He gets conned by a young redhead, amazingly Agnes, in the street.  He tries kickboxing without success. He meets Mrs. Lopez in the street.  While they are talking they hear a nearby car crash. Later, we discover that the car crash is caused by one of the major characters. Jean-Pierre looks for a connection with an acquaintance, Cyrus. Cyrus meets Agnes at her father’s office.  They begin having an affair that night. In the meantime, Mrs. Lopez and Jean-Pierre have sex in a men’s room. Jean-Pierre and Mrs. Fruttero meet in Cyrus’ hallway.

The coincidences in this graphic novel just don’t stop. There are two sex triangles within the eight characters within this novel. Are there only eight people in this town? I was expecting the fat younger sister to start having an affair with the elderly woman because they were the only two not having sex. The artwork is good but contains multiple images of female and male genitalia so Body and Soul is definitely only for adults. I usually like slice of life graphic novels in foreign lands.  However, this book is just too contrived. I also disliked every single character.

I’m disappointed that I can only give Body and Soul 2 stars and those are only for the illustrations.

Thanks to the publisher, Europe Comics, and NetGalley for an advanced copy.

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