Review: Moving Pictures

Unlike Rush's seminal album, this Moving Pictures leaves you wanting more. Moving Pictures is a WWII drama set in occupied France. The talented Immonens (Kathryn writing, Stuart artwork) document the real life struggle of Ila Gardener. Ila, a Canadian museum curator, sets forth on a dangerous task of hiding priceless works from the Nazi war machine. That is about as exciting as this true (and mind-numbingly boring) story really gets. Ila is a terrifically boring heroine with very little ways to impact the book. Along the way Ila meets the German officer Rolf Hauptmann, whom has been charged with cataloguing the museum in which Ila works. The two have a standoffish relationship that inexplicably leads them into an implausible romantic entanglement. The relationship costs the relative of a coworker her life.
This story was first published as a web comic, as can be seen in the pacing. Bad web comics have a choppy start-and-stop quality when read. Its much like a movie overusing the jump cut. Something just seemed a little off with how Moving Pictures reads. It leaves me wondering if it was better suited staying web-based for readability. Another of the curious choices the pairing made was their presentation of occupied France. I have never once seen a picture of France during the occupation that didn't have a swastika somewhere in the frame. While I admire a unique take on any story, the lack of Nazis in a WWII story set in Europe is like the Smurfs without Gargamell. This is also the first time I have been left disappointed in the usually fantastic artwork of Stuart Immonen. His Marvel work has a certain flair, a passion that translates onto the page and seems to come alive. His work on Moving Pictures, being a main drawing point to even reading the book, left me flat. The characters lacked diversity, which is further compounded by a lack of color that left me unable to tell certain characters apart. While I love b&w artwork as much as, if not more, than work in color, the lack of detail left me begging for a colorist's touch.
As a fan of the Immonens in the little I have sampled, this book seems like a good idea without the factual drama to make it a good story. As both a history buff and comic reader, I must recommend you move on past Moving Pictures.