A Beautiful Young Nymph Going To Bed

Title: A Beautiful Young Nymph Going To Bed
Date: 2011 (poem originally published in 1734)
Publisher: Drowned Town Press
Writer: Jonathan Swift, E.J. Barnes
Artist: E.J. Barnes

This minicomic is an adaptation Jonathan Swift's poem of the same title, originally published in 1734. For those interested, the text of the poem can be found here.

EJ Barnes uses a woodcut style to illustrate the stanzas of the poem, which present a message quite applicable to today's world of beauty and fashion excesses. This is the 18th Century version of plastic surgery, airbrushing, and photoshopping, the creation of an ideal of beauty that proves to be a mere facade. And that facade is stripped away piece by piece through Barnes' woodcut-style illustrations. The illustrations do a great job of bringing out details that might be lost on those readers who are not up to speed on their 18th century beauty and hygiene terminology.

This is a clever and disturbing piece of work that nicely complements the original poem. EJ Barnes has captured the satirical venom and cynicism of Jonathan Swift's original work, and it is still as relevant as it was when it was published.

Rating: 8.5/10