My first full length graphic novel: English Edition

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Product Description

In 1941 Poland, silence is a way of life. Eighteen-year-old seminary student Koby Bruk has watched for two years as the people of his home town allowed the Germans to move in, displace homes and families, and impose their rule on the people who remain. When Koby is bullied by his classmate Irvine, he chooses to speak up against him. This doesn't sit well with Irvine's friend, Hitler Youth Oskar Keplar. Oskar corners Koby in an alleyway and makes a sinister promise.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1171462 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 131 pages

Review
... a short, intense study on the powerful lure of the forbidden. And with the multiple layers of wrongness come stronger desire and more serious fallout -- political, religious, and ethnic on top of the usual homosexuality taboo... potent stuff. There's sex, yes, but it's part and parcel of these characters' trajectories. Kudos all around. ---Prospero's Manga

For me, this was a hard-to-take and very personal tale that touched on many global issues with a needful light touch. It could easily have been turned into a massive political statement but it didn't attempt to do so. It remained for me a story of two young men caught up in circumstances they are completely unable to change. It has had the same visceral punch for me as films such as Se7en and I know for a fact that Only Words will stay with me for a long long time. I m very pleased that this was my first foray into this genre. --Speak Its Name

There is so much good in this release that it's hard to find just one thing to point out that s truly exemplary. [...] This to me, is OEL (Original English Language) manga done right. --Boys Next Door

About the Author
Tina Anderson is an accomplished author of gay fiction and comics; her works have been published Class Comics, Yaoi Press, and Dramaqueen. Writing credits include the series Roulette, currently serialized the American yaoi anthology magazine RUSH, and the historical gay drama Only Words, her first full-length graphic novel published in 2007 by Iris Print.

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Customer Reviews

Only Words
This is a simple yet incredibly emotional manga about a Polish seminary student and a Hitler Youth. The subject matter is dark and controversial, yet somehow the story is still sweet and touching. The artwork is hauntingly beautiful, and more of the story takes place in the drawings than in the words on the pages. The little bit of sex in the book is rather explicit. The story does not have a happy ending, however, and the novel takes less than half an hour to finish. Fair or not, those two issues did affect my overall enjoyment.

While I would happily recommend Only Words to manga collectors and fans of poignant and heartfelt artwork, I'm not sure I recommend it for the casual boylove fan looking for a fun manga to read. This is more of a collector/conversation piece than breezy entertainment.

Only Words - BUY IT!
I follow Tina Anderson's work as a fan and I have to say this was a GREAT manga. a bit dark, a bit depressing, but with great writing and awsome art to back it up. I suggest this to any yaoi fan. It's a bit of a short read, but good none the less. ^____^

"...a refreshing change..."
The lead of Only Words is Koby, a seminary student who lives his life honestly and quietly within the confines of society in Nazi-inhabited Poland. Affecting his life in a way that will forever stay with him is Oskar, a Nazi soldier, and between them is arranged a seductively dangerous encounter.

Koby is a somber character and, for the little readers get a glimpse, is a bit of a masochist, his personal sexual attentions on Oskar. The whole story carries along at a pace that suits Koby's personality, slow and steady, but sharply changes in contrast by appearances of Oskar, whose page-time is brief, but notable, in Koby's life (for which this book is only a small part of). Panels are laid out evenly and more sparse compared to most, with only about 2-4 panels per page. Honestly, it was nice to read it that way when compared to some graphic novels that suffer from an abundance of clutter.

As both a warning and point of interest, those looking for romance won't find it here, so don't let the tender cover fool you. What passes between the characters is lust, if anything, but fluffy love it most certainly is not. No complaints from me however, because the cold, harsh reality of it felt like a refreshing change from the usual unrealistic, forced romantics of many other stories. A little more dark and depressing than some may expect but thankfully not in a way that takes any time to wallow in itself.

With the end set up as it was, and the brief though impacting interactions that will no doubt have a lasting effect on Koby, I would love to see the story taken further since I felt this book worked to set up a great potential follow-up. By the time I'd finished the book, I'd really got the feeling that it was more of a prequel than a standalone.

I really liked Caroline's artwork here in Only Words. The style has a roundish, cartoon sort of appearance to it but one that compliments the dark story brilliantly. The consistency and cleanness of the work suggested to me much more experience than I later learned the artist had, so all the more kudos to her for such a great work! The character designs were fairly simple but undoubtedly gained their charm by the style portraying them. On the downside, at times the screen-toning seemed a little rough, almost as if it would've benefitted from insertion at a higher resolution, but they did still work well giving mood to the dark-intended scenes.

As a whole, I really liked reading Only Words but I definitely felt there should've been more to it. I liked what I saw but it only feels like only the start of something bigger. Maybe that's the intent, maybe it's not, but a little finishing emptiness aside, Only Words is a good example of the talent pool for global manga-influenced works out there and it's a read I'm glad I finally got to experience.