Tiger Lung

It's hard not to like a graphic novel that takes us back to Paleolithic Europe, especially one as beautifully rendered as Tiger Lung. In these tales, Roy (Prophet) and Wordie trace the story of the book's eponymous hero, an ancient shaman trying to do his best for his people against the backdrop of an unforgiving landscape. Both Wordie's use of color in the narratives that bookend the collection and Roy's black and white line in "The Hyena's Daughter" are outstanding. Prehistory is often thought of as that period when people were guided by instinct and rudimentary reasoning to negotiate their hostile environment, but this book uses elements of the mythic and the fantastic to show us a world that is far more complicated. The sketchbook that Roy includes at the end gives wonderful insight into complex process that guided his decision-making in putting these stories together, including, as he notes, "the challenge of trying to visually define the internal life of the shaman." An impressive effort. (Dec.)