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Beautiful Canvas #1-4
Beautiful Canvas Volume 1
Lon Eisley is a hitwoman hired to kill a small child a few days after discovering her girlfriend is pregnant. In a bold declaration of uncertainty, she saves the boy and hits the road, despite the fact that her boss clearly wants him dead for a reason. This warped crime dystopia delves into the emotional dichotomy of creator/destroyer as Lon tries to connect the two very different worlds she now inhabits.
From Sam Kivela (artist of "Abbot" and "Chum", and Ryan K Lindsay (author of "Negative Space" and "Eternal") comes a gonzo tale of personal discovery, animal/hybrid hit troupes, and reactive pyrokinesis.
From Sam Kivela (artist of "Abbot" and "Chum", and Ryan K Lindsay (author of "Negative Space" and "Eternal") comes a gonzo tale of personal discovery, animal/hybrid hit troupes, and reactive pyrokinesis.
96 pages, Paperback
First published February 28, 2018
49 people want to read
About the author
Ryan K. Lindsay
69Ìýbooks64ÌýfollowersRyan K Lindsay is an award winning Australian comic writer who has worked for a variety of publishers.
He has partnered with artist Eric Zawadzki to produce: ETERNAL through Black Mask Studios, and HEADSPACE, with Sebastian Piriz, through Monkeybrain Comics/IDW.
He has partnered with artist Sami Kivela to produce: BEAUTIFUL CANVAS through Black Mask Studios, DEER EDITOR through his own ‘Four Colour Ray Gun' imprint and a handful of Kickstarter successes, and CHUM through ComixTribe.
He was selected as a participant in the DC Writing Workshop group of 2016.
His other comics include: Aurealis and Ledger Award winning NEGATIVE SPACE with Owen Gieni through Dark Horse Comics, GLOVES with Tommy Lee Edwards in the Vertigo CMYK anthology, as well as EIR with Alfie Gallagher, INK ISLAND with Craig Bruyn, and STAIN THE SEAS SCARLET with Alex Cormack through Kickstarter for ‘Four Colour Ray Gun.�
He's written/edited analytical texts, including THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS: EXAMINING MATT MURDOCK AND DAREDEVIL through Sequart, and has had essays published in Criminal, Godzilla, Sheltered, Strange Nation, and Crime Factory.
He is Australian and when not being a family man he hones his writing skills by sacrificing blood wombats to the outback spider fight clubs.
He has partnered with artist Eric Zawadzki to produce: ETERNAL through Black Mask Studios, and HEADSPACE, with Sebastian Piriz, through Monkeybrain Comics/IDW.
He has partnered with artist Sami Kivela to produce: BEAUTIFUL CANVAS through Black Mask Studios, DEER EDITOR through his own ‘Four Colour Ray Gun' imprint and a handful of Kickstarter successes, and CHUM through ComixTribe.
He was selected as a participant in the DC Writing Workshop group of 2016.
His other comics include: Aurealis and Ledger Award winning NEGATIVE SPACE with Owen Gieni through Dark Horse Comics, GLOVES with Tommy Lee Edwards in the Vertigo CMYK anthology, as well as EIR with Alfie Gallagher, INK ISLAND with Craig Bruyn, and STAIN THE SEAS SCARLET with Alex Cormack through Kickstarter for ‘Four Colour Ray Gun.�
He's written/edited analytical texts, including THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS: EXAMINING MATT MURDOCK AND DAREDEVIL through Sequart, and has had essays published in Criminal, Godzilla, Sheltered, Strange Nation, and Crime Factory.
He is Australian and when not being a family man he hones his writing skills by sacrificing blood wombats to the outback spider fight clubs.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
February 10, 2019
Well i can say one thing about Ryan K. Lindsay, he can write a pretty solid and weird as fuck story. I also did appreciate this being a genre bender (love those types of stories)
March 23, 2018
This was one of the best things I read in 2017.
Immediately the story speaks to you. I don’t mean in a heartfelt, emotional sense either. They show you a scene, you start to guess at what has already happened, and character leans over and tells you “you’re overthinking it�. At first it may not seem like it’s for you, but it is. It happens a handful of times, usually at the moment where I found myself asking “what the fuck is that?�. Each time it haunted me. So I played along, stopped trying to guess at things and just let it happen.
This book knows what it’s doing and knows exactly how to play it out. And honestly, has everything you need for a great story; super powers, animal people, meta quotes about art and destruction, dads wanting forgiveness, lesbians of color! Everything!!
I love the art, the colors are amazing, it fits with the softness and innocence of the book. But the story is pretty much a grind house film and it’s done perfectly. I love the way the action panels are constructed, how they zoom in and have so much to look at on certain pages. And then there are just some shots that are way trippy.
It’s so great, I would love more but really, it’s perfect all on its own, and has such a fulfilling ending. I hope this team works together again.
Immediately the story speaks to you. I don’t mean in a heartfelt, emotional sense either. They show you a scene, you start to guess at what has already happened, and character leans over and tells you “you’re overthinking it�. At first it may not seem like it’s for you, but it is. It happens a handful of times, usually at the moment where I found myself asking “what the fuck is that?�. Each time it haunted me. So I played along, stopped trying to guess at things and just let it happen.
This book knows what it’s doing and knows exactly how to play it out. And honestly, has everything you need for a great story; super powers, animal people, meta quotes about art and destruction, dads wanting forgiveness, lesbians of color! Everything!!
I love the art, the colors are amazing, it fits with the softness and innocence of the book. But the story is pretty much a grind house film and it’s done perfectly. I love the way the action panels are constructed, how they zoom in and have so much to look at on certain pages. And then there are just some shots that are way trippy.
It’s so great, I would love more but really, it’s perfect all on its own, and has such a fulfilling ending. I hope this team works together again.
May 10, 2024
This story reads like you're having a nightmare that doesn't make any sense. If you're looking for a coherent story, this isn't for you. If you enjoy beautiful art and chaotic, weird and brutal fragments of events, glued together, you'll love this. I sure did!
August 1, 2021
The whole project, of course, turns on how you feel about our heroine. In this appearance she is smart, dedicated to her people, and lethal. She also has a sense of humor, a touch of heart, and a real personality.
Not perfect, as others have said, but I definitely recommend it if you're into things like Ghost Rider or The Punisher. Not as balls-to-the-wall supernatural as Ghost Rider, but the aspect of the good guy using the powers of darkness for his personal fight against an organization that wronged him is easily compared to The Punisher's systematic take down of mob families.
Not perfect, as others have said, but I definitely recommend it if you're into things like Ghost Rider or The Punisher. Not as balls-to-the-wall supernatural as Ghost Rider, but the aspect of the good guy using the powers of darkness for his personal fight against an organization that wronged him is easily compared to The Punisher's systematic take down of mob families.
March 22, 2018
It's certainly a big swing. There's a lot of reference to broader world things that I wish had been explained, but I'd rather have them there and feel like I'm only seeing a glimpse of a thought-out world than feel like what I'm seeing on the page is all the creators could muster up. That's also the problem with only giving themselves four issues to do it in; I was really hoping for a sprawling, East of West kind of saga you could really dig your teeth into. But what it was was still good! I'll be looking for the same writer on other stuff now.
Note: I read these as individual issues, so if there was any additional content in the trade paperback, I missed it.
Note: I read these as individual issues, so if there was any additional content in the trade paperback, I missed it.
February 27, 2018
The tagline for this collection is "You're overthinking it." which described my experience reading the book. At times I really enjoyed it, at times I wasn't precisely sure why I was reading it. Kivela's art is gorgeous, and the concept at the center of the story is really cool, I just found myself occasionally distracted by the dialog. It's not clunky or badly done; it just doesn't always seem to progress at the same rate as the story. Also, I get exhausted by the 1990s overswearing trope. It's not egregious here, and I might not have noticed it if I hadn't just finished reading a book that read like Quentin Tarantino had a stroke, and lost what little discretion he has.It just pops up occasionally, and at moments where characters are trying too hard to be cool in a way that real people sometimes try too hard to be cool.
This is the third or fourth Black Mask book I've read, and I enjoy each one a little more than the previous. I can't wait to read more work from the studio, as well as this creative team.
I recommend it for people who like supernatural crime stories that skew a little David Lynchy but don't go Full Blown Twin Peaks, people who wish Huntress or Black Widow were way more badass and acted in a world with consequences, people looking for LGBTQIA hitwomen stories, and really anyone looking for something awesome that's different from most mainstream comics but not so different that you can't figure out what's going on.
This is the third or fourth Black Mask book I've read, and I enjoy each one a little more than the previous. I can't wait to read more work from the studio, as well as this creative team.
I recommend it for people who like supernatural crime stories that skew a little David Lynchy but don't go Full Blown Twin Peaks, people who wish Huntress or Black Widow were way more badass and acted in a world with consequences, people looking for LGBTQIA hitwomen stories, and really anyone looking for something awesome that's different from most mainstream comics but not so different that you can't figure out what's going on.
March 6, 2018
Incomprehensible.
October 28, 2018
I was lucky enough to pick this volume up at Sydney Oz Comic-con '18 (RKL is a super nice dude). The artwork is beautiful and I love how every character is messed up, but you're given just enough context to understand why. It lost me for a bit in the middle - things aren't explained/given backstory/formulated in a classic way. You're sort of just thrown into a story where in the first few pages bad sh*t starts going down and (at least to me) it comes across as bad guy does bad stuff coz they're bad/mental.
Overall worth the read if you love graphic novels/comics and want something fast paced, a little bit weird, and basically a bunch of shoot-em-ups, explosions and assassinations.
Overall worth the read if you love graphic novels/comics and want something fast paced, a little bit weird, and basically a bunch of shoot-em-ups, explosions and assassinations.
June 26, 2018
I was overthinking it.
December 15, 2018
Absolutely incredible... the second time around. It’s a relatively short graphic novel, so I think it’s fair to judge it primarily by my feelings after rereading it, but it’s something to consider
The story is quite unique, and told in a very atypical manner, where certain elements are just introduced without special mention by any of the characters. I think this gives a lot of legitimacy to the world that the creators have built, as the characters just act normally, but makes it slightly difficult to process the first time you read it
The story is quite unique, and told in a very atypical manner, where certain elements are just introduced without special mention by any of the characters. I think this gives a lot of legitimacy to the world that the creators have built, as the characters just act normally, but makes it slightly difficult to process the first time you read it
April 30, 2020
Imma be honest... The goddamn gorgeous art seduced me. Sami Kivela drew for one of my favorite comics, Abbott (Saladin Ahmed). His style is hypnotizing to look at. Add a lovely Queer women relationship and I’m hooked. I wasn’t particularly getting the full story, but there were parts here and there that made the reading experience worth picking up.
I do not regret having this comic on my shelf. It’s still a nice read. Just do it for the art if anything.
I do not regret having this comic on my shelf. It’s still a nice read. Just do it for the art if anything.
December 10, 2018
Nicely packaged but rather odd.
January 10, 2019
Historia confusa e intrascendente.
October 21, 2020
This was just okay, and rather hard to follow... but the art style was absolutely gorgeous.
January 7, 2021
Art is lovely.
Thats pretty much it.
Thats pretty much it.
September 12, 2023
Probably closer to 3.5 than 4 but I rounded up. Interesting story about an assassin deciding if save a dangerous child or let him die
November 2, 2023
This is the first graphic novel I ever read, gifted to me by my sister. The art is beautiful. The story was a bit vague. It isn't like anything I ever read before. Maybe I have to reread it in the future to be able to give it a higher rating (and be able to comprehend it more).
January 25, 2019
It was a little all over the place. Emotions were just as intense as the art work which was fantastic. A book about the chaos and beauty in life and the creation of life.
"You're overthinking it."
"You're overthinking it."
July 15, 2021
Has some interesting ideas but deeper topics are poorly conveyed. Not bad but not great.
dnf
June 16, 2018Made little to no sense.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
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