Panther - by Brecht Evens (Hardcover)

About the Book

"A young girl named Christine is grieving over her cat when, suddenly, a talking panther slinks from her dresser drawer. Panther, the self-proclaimed crown prince of Pantherland, entertains Christine and conjures up magical worlds. Then, things start stirring in the dark..."--Back cover.

Book Synopsis

"Evens is the finest ambassador for Belgian illustration since Hergé." --The Guardian

Brecht Evens, the award-winning author of The Wrong Place and The Making Of, returns with an unsettling graphic novel about a little girl and her imaginary feline companion. Iconoclastic in his cartooning and page layouts, subtle in his plotting, and deft in his capturing of the human experience, Evens has crafted a tangled, dark masterwork.

Christine lives in a big house with her father and her cat, Lucy. When Lucy gets sick and dies, Christine is devastated. But alone in her room, something special happens: a panther pops out of her dresser drawer and begins to tell her stories of distant Pantherland, where he is the crown prince.

A shape-shifter who tells Christine anything she wants to hear, Panther begins taking over Christine's life, alienating her from her other toys and friends. As Christine's world spirals out of control, so does the world Panther has created for her. Panther is a chilling voyage into the shadowy corners of the human psyche. The Drawn & Quarterly edition of Panther is an extended "director's cut," featuring additional material not included in the original book.

Review Quotes

"Filled with the kind of magical thinking that powers childhood--where the unknown is exciting and terrifying in equal measures--and told with a confidence that dares you to keep up, it's unlike anything else you'll read this month and all the better for it. A triumph."--Wired

"Brecht Evens' Panther is undeniably one of the standout releases so far this year, blending astonishing watercolour art and an increasingly menacing tone."--The Quietus

"Brecht Evens manages to dream up the same kind of menacing, seductive hocus-pocus that made kid-lit curmudgeons Maurice Sendak or Roald Dahl so beloved."--The Globe and Mail

"A dark fairy tale filled with troubling implications and haunting illustrations."--Publishers Weekly

"Panther [is] one of the most beautiful and disturbing narratives of childhood ever produced in the comics medium."--Vulture

"[Brecht's] pages shine bright with color, almost floral in its abundance, and they rarely use panels. But they're not just beautiful. The mind at work here thinks about less obvious ways of achieving truths."--Paste

"Evens illustrates the story with the panel-less flow of a picture book, and colorfully painted drawings erupt into full-page, cubist abstraction when events in the story get out of hand."--Mental Floss

"... in Panther, [Even's has] conjured up one of the great characters of contemporary comics."--Creative Review

"A chilling twist on a little girl's imaginary friend...[Panther] spotlights Evens' immense range of character expressions as well as his strong understanding of how to use color to intensify those numerous emotional beats."--AV Club

"...one of the most remarkable comics that I've experienced in recent memory...But is Evens' latest work a masterpiece? It's a strong word... I think Panther earns it."--Comics Alliance

"A brilliant book, full of wonder both delightful and malicious, Evens has created a masterpiece."--The Comics Journal

About the Author

Brecht Evens is a Belgian cartoonist living in Paris. The Wrong Place, his first graphic novel, was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Painter. He has since received five more nominations. He has also won the Special Jury Prize in Angoulême for the original edition of his fourth graphic novel The City of Belgium (Les Rigoles). Evens is currently at work on a trilogy, the first chapter of which is titled The Jellyfish King and will be published in Fall 2026.