Lexlingua

NAJA is a graphic novel by J.D. Morvan, illustrated by Bengal. I received a copy of this based on a request at Net Galley, and I am glad I took a chance at this one. I have read very few graphic novels/ comics before -- limited to Persepolis and The Professor's Daughter, actually -- so this one was a lucky shot. NAJA is a female assassin who has the curse (or privilege?) of never being able to feel anything. You get the feeling from the start that she has some symptoms of a post-traumatic stress disorder. She works for Zero -- a person she has never seen -- and is in competition, so to speak, with two other assassins also working with Zero. Except, in the process, she uncovers some deadly, hair-raising secrets, which finally prove to be her undoing.

What makes Naja a pleasure to read are the strangely symmetrical, even geometrical, style of drawing, and a fascinating concoction of various shades of blues and purples and browns. It's all very pretty to look at, even though there's a lot of blood and gore spilled across the pages. the best parts are the scenes where the assassins travel to new places, and a brief travelogue is given of the same, for example: