An impressive debut, Mothballs is a 336 page, full color graphic novel that features innovative story-telling that leverages its boldly drawn and intriguingly colored artwork to great effect.
We've posted a hefty sample of pages from Mothballs HERE, to help give you an idea of Otero's innovative artwork.
Originallly published en Español in Spain in 2020 as Naftalina, it was been translated into English by Andrea Rosenberg.
Just in here at Copacetic.
Fanta sez:
In this moving family saga, a teenage woman uncovers the hushed history of sexual violence that shattered her grandmother's life.San Martín, Argentina, 2001. Upon her estranged grandmother Vilma's death, 19-year-old Rocío moves into a house haunted by memories. Seeking a deeper understanding, Ro delves into her family history and uncovers the episodes of violence and betrayal that shattered Vilma's dreams. All the while, the familiar scent of mothballs permeating the estate serves to remind Ro of the ineluctable spell of the past that she must break in order to forge her own path in life. Tender, heartrending, and leavened with biting humor, Mothballs is at once a moving family saga and a poignant reflection on the need to hold fast to one's identity, despite how painful it can be. A showcase of tour de force cartooning that marks Sole Otero as a major talent in the global comics scene.
"Otero's Mothballs is an unflinching look at family, love and choosing your own path. It stayed with me long after I read it." — Eleanor Davis (The Hard Tomorrow)
SPECIAL PRICE!
In her North American graphic novel debut, Mothballs, Sole Otero demonstrated that she is a cartoonist who isn't afraid to take chances when doing so can serve to expand the the territory of comics storytelling. Here in the 376 full color pages of Witchcraft, she continues further into the comics wilderness in a tale set in the Buenos Aires of 1768.
Here's the Fanta hype-up:
"It is a dark and foreboding night when the boat arrives from Europe, bringing three shadowy figures to shore. The María sisters have come to take the New World by storm. At once righteous and menacing, the sisters will exert their insidious powers over generations, leaving a wreckage of shattered spirits in their wake.
Told through the eyes of the people whose lives the sisters have cast asunder, Witchcraft is a mesmerizing mystery to piece together. Strange magic, dark humor, and a fiery undercurrent of female rage cohere into a heady tale of colonialism, indigenous folklore, and modern agoraphobia. A kaleidoscopic work of literary fiction, crafted with vision and verve, that assures Sole Otero as one of South America's most dynamic cartoonists."