I am rather ambivalent about the graphic format, so perhaps I was destined to feel disappointed in this book. But after reading this incredibly short work -- I am left mostly with a feeling of confusion. Who is this work aimed at, what was it trying to convey ?

The blurbs and the introduction talk about the idea that Delany is presenting a radical or even revolutionary idea: love with a dirty, homeless man. Yet the ideas presented are familiar territory to any Delany reader who has read his more provocative works. The truth in Bread and Wine is a tame, cleaned-up version of the harrowing fiction presented in both Hogg and the Mad Man. There is also not much new material introduced for those who have read his autobiography, and any of his autobiographical short stories. We learn almost nothing more of Delany the man, or Delany the writer. Although it has been written in Salon that Delany has become an exhibitionist by sharing so much, he appears to be using exhibitionism in place of true sharing or self-revelation. This work is much closer to the clam-like Heavenly Breakfast than it is to the self-revelation found in Motion of Light and Water. With Delany so closed up, the work suffers from a lack of emotion regarding Delany as a character, and as the other half of the relationship. If Delany is unwilling to share -- why tell such an intimate tale ?

If you are new to Delany as a writer, a critic, a gay man, there is very little meat or detail about him presented at all. In fact we learn more about Dennis the homeless lover, than we do about Delany. Most importantly we never learn what keeps Delany with this homeless man. The male objects of desire running through many of Delany's works have been down and out, working class, and decidedly grubby, so Delany's initial interest is understandable. But what common ground can they occupy years later that allows such a relationship to endure ? Perhaps it is love, but that too seemed missing from this book. There seemed to be companionship, and lust -- but little else other than watching Delany rescue a homelss man. Dennis got a home and a life, and Delany got -- what ? It was left to the illustrator in the written comments to mention that they act like they are in love. I felt that whole aspect was missing from the graphic portion of the book.

The shortcomings of the graphic portion of the book were so obvious that a written dialog was included where the various characters chime in and try to flesh this work out -- but it falls flat. Why use the graphic format if it didn't work. If a written text was to be added, why not some of the writing that Delany is famous for.

The result is that this book seems like something that was put together by committee, during a rainy day at summer camp, or during a pajama party when the popcorn ran out, and the card games paled. In the end it lacks purpose, voice and presence.

To be frank, I can't recommend Samuel Delany's newest graphic novel effort 'Bread and Wine" to the casual fan of either comics or science fiction. I am unhappy because Delany is a personal hero of mine. To be candid, before Octavia Butler, Steven Barnes and I presume Jamil Nasser, his was the only face of color that I had ever seen in science fiction circles. In fact, until the cover of "Heavenly Breakfast" I didn't know he was an African American. And the thing I really liked about Delany is that he's not a token, but that he's really really good. He is one of the consummate stylists of our time (within science fiction and out) and his speculation is top notch and imaginative. I suppose, when you think about it, the graphic novel takes away from his two strengths because it doesn't lend itself to descriptive passages and this particular topic matter is not science fiction. Don't get me wrong, there was some fine writing. Here's one example of what a spectacular writer Delany can be even in this graphic novel: "The sad and almost weekly reiterated truth is That I am not happy here. Walking in the snow-blanketed morning, and wander- Ing across the great orange rug (My mother's) in The study, to gaze out on the snow blurred dawn, Wrapped around with fog, I'm confronted with The fundamental peacefulness and serenity of The town as a physical place. But the moment The fog burns off, I'm confronted with its equally Fundamental impoverishment-financial, cultural and social." Not bad. But there really isn't anything else that reaches his usual level of poetry. He seems to have lapsed into a conversational narrative, which might actually be better in a comic form, but takes away from his great strengths. What it is about: Delany's strange, olfactory shattering relationship with what sounds to be a partially deranged homeless man. By the way, this is a true story. For the record, Delany is a twofer. He is not only the most prominent black science fiction writer on Earth, he is probably the most prominent gay science fiction writer on Earth. But that doesn't mean he doesn't like women. He was once married to poet Marilyn Hacker and has a daughter, who makes a shy appearance or two in the book. Look, I say live and let live and there's nothing wrong with Delany's lifestyle choice. But, at the risk of sounding like the stereotyped Jewish mother, couldn't he have found a nicer boy? Surely, that nice horror poet Clive Barker would be a better catch and there must be thousands of effeminate male english majors who would love to jump into bed and be tutored by such a "Legend". This book, by the way, is full of mostly gay graphic sex. Not my cup of tea. I guess this is the way women might feel whenever they see pornography, slightly unsettled. It is honest. Wrenchingly so I might add. In fact, I now know more about Delany that I ever wanted to know to paraphrase Neil Gaimen's sarcastic praise in the back of the book. Bread also sets a record for a series of grisly pungent descriptions. Other critics have pointed this out as well. Apparently, his homeless seductee was so dirty that he turned two tubs of water jetblack, before finally giving into a shower. Delany also describes this guy's scent as "shit-and-vinegar sourness". Yeech. I also don't know what to make of the ending. Apparently, he lives happily ever after with his cleaned up formerly homeless lover, his daughter and a few friends. Everything about this story suggests to me that his lover is not all there. Tomorrow, if I read Dennis stabbed Delany and his daughter in the head it wouldn't surprise me. Really wouldn't. The other thing is I can't figure out is why Delany would have a relationship with someone who wasn't his intellectual equal. I mean, in all probability, Delany beats Dennis' IQ by about a 100 points. And I'm not kidding about that. That would not be unlike me marrying a cat and calling it a relationship. And why would your basic crazed homeless guy turn down a relationship with anyone, let alone a guy with a house? I mean, I don't like rejection--but what were the homeless guy's options? Chip probably looked like Cleopatra to this guy, or at least a pudgy male middle aged bespectacled version of Cleopatra who lived in a nice warm house. Smart guy that he is Chip probably knew it to. Artwise I would say artist Mia Wolff does a decent job. It feels a little sketchy at times, but it works. She does a number of interesting things with her art. As grungy as the sex scenes get, she's always tasteful. I suppose she gets the work done. This is truly a unique work. There just is not a lot of interracial-gay-relationshipbetween-noted-writer-and-crazed-homeless-person comic book fiction out there. I mean I've looked at the row between the X Men and Green Lantern, but I just didn't see it. Bottom line, if you're a Delany groupie, for example you've read "Hogg" over and over again and comprehend all his crit lit pieces (good luck) then run out to the store and grab this up. If you've never heard of Delany, then I would first suggest his novels "Triton" and the aforementioned "Stars like Grains..." And if you're the kind of person who considers books like Gravity's Rainbow and Ulysses light reads, then I wholeheartedly recommend that you pick up Delany's massive work: "Dhalgren".

This is a "graphic novel" put out by Juno Books, which in an earlier incarnation (Re/Search) put out some of the most unusual and interesting large format takes on fringe culture in the last decade. Delany has done a autobiographical account of his romance with a homeless man, but being Delany, he offers quite a bit more than that. The book is as much the artist's, Mia Wolff's, in that her visualization of the relationship establishes much of what the reader/viewer makes of it. Her style is not complex, but it has depth and at times surprising jumps of fantasy. Throughout the book, Delany reminds us his title is taken from a famous poem by Holderlin (a German Romantic who wrote brilliantly and then went mad); by quoting several passages from Holderlin's meditation on the inevitable failure of reconciling the classical past to the present, he gets a postmodern buzz into an otherwise straightforward love story. Anyone bothered by (literally) graphic depictions of sex between men should probably pass on the book, but that should still leave quite a few of us. What finally predominates is a touching depiction of unlikely lovers. Much of what happens would be cliched if the partners were hetero, but the gay version puts a spin on the material. Anyone who really likes Delany should be interested, and anyone concerned with the progressive edge of the graphic novel format will enjoy it. My only quibble is that at times Wolff depicts Delany like a fond Santa Claus, and that seems a bit much considering the material presented.

I'm a HUGE fan of Alan Moore; He's written some of the greatest graphic novels of all time (From Hell, V For Vendetta, Miracleman, Batman: The Killing Joke), and his run on Swamp Thing changed the face of horror comics forever, giving birth to a style of writing that would spawn huge talents like Grant Morrison and Neil Gaiman, among others...

So it's with a VERY heavy heart that I report that not only did I NOT enjoy Magic Words, I actually regretted buying it. The book was solicited (By publisher Avatar Comics) as a collection of short stories; It's actually a few of Moore's song lyrics interpreted by a group of European artists. The art was varied, ranging from decent to ultra-detailed, but the stories themselves (Actually the lyrics..) do NOT make for compelling reading. If reading song lyrics and looking at an artists interpretations of those lyrics is your thing, you'll probably like Magic Words. I found it to be very pretentious and self-important. I'll be very careful about checking into the content of Avatar books before buying from now on.....(Sorry Alan! You're STILL my favorite Writer, though!)

Several of Alan Moore's obscure songs are adapted here by a wide range of great European artists including the first US work from a great artist called Juan Jose Ryp who is drawing another Moore project. Also includes a very interesting history of Alan Moore's work outside of comics. If you are an Alan Moore fan, you will dig it!