The City of Belgium - Brecht Evens

The City of Belgium by Brecht Evens / A new book from a 50 Watts favorite, Brecht Evens / ISBN 9781770463424 / 336-page hardcover, just published by Drawn and Quarterly 

It's hard to believe one person could make something like this.

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An exquisitely drawn exploration of three lost souls' emotional terrain

As night falls in the City of Belgium, three strangers in their late twenties―a most dangerous age―arrive at a popular restaurant. Jona is about to move away; he calls his wife, who’s already settled in Berlin, before trying to make plans with friends for one last night on the town. No one bites―they’re all busy or maybe they just don’t want to party―but he’s determined to make this night something to remember. Victoria is lively and energetic, but surrounded by friends and family who are buzzkills, always worrying about what is best for her. Rodolphe glumly considers his own misery and then suddenly snaps out of it, becoming the life of the party. The three careen through the city’s nightlife spots and underbelly, getting ever deeper in the messiness of human existence as they chase pleasure―or at least a few distractions from their daily lives. Each has a series of misadventures that reveal them to be teetering on the edge of despair, of destruction, of becoming the people they’ll be for the rest of their lives. The City of Belgium occupies a place between lucid dream and tooth-grinding nightmare.

Brecht Evens is a cartoonist, visual artist, and musician based in Belgium. His first graphic novel in English, The Wrong Place, was awarded the Prix de l’Audace at the Angoulême Comics Festival.