Review by Colin Credle
Please note the last paragraph features a spoiler.
French author and illustrator Jim Bishop organised the English translation of Lost Letters with successful crowdfunding. In an online interview, Bishop describes Lost Letters as the first in his “child trilogy”, exploring themes of mourning, loss, grieving and transition into adulthood. Lost Letters received the Silver Medal at the 2022 International Manga Awards in Japan, was the winner of the 2022 Lecteurs.com BD Prize, the France Bleu Comic Award and the 2022 Orange Comics Prize.
The artwork is vibrant, saturated with pastel colours and gorgeous landscapes that many reviewers agree are reminiscent of Hayao Miyazaki films (in this case, specifically Porco Rosso.) Often European Bande Dessinée (BD) is squeezed and squashed into smaller sized panels when published in English speaking countries, but Lost Letters escapes this fate as the page size provides ample breathing room for the artwork to shine. The idyllic island of Sun leaps off the page.
Iode (short for Iodine) lives where fish and humans coexist and has long awaited a letter from his Aviator Mom inviting him to join her. Prankster clownfish deliver the mail and never give a straight answer to what might have delayed the letter, so Iode decides to drive to the Post Office to find out, picking up a mysterious hitchhiker on the way. Sista the hitchhiker is on secret mission to deliver a locked briefcase for the mafia syndicate known as “the Octopus.” Thrown together unexpectedly, Sista is reluctant to join Iode’s quest for the lost letter. A series of mishaps continue to throw them together as more and more is revealed about the characters they run into – incompetent fish cops, curious crustaceans , shark muggers and rude cods. There is a great deal of petty squabbling that at the start is amusing but comes very close to being tiresome.
On the island of Sun, many parents have abandoned, blamed or ignored their kids – it keeps coming up when we learn more about each character’s back story. Iode is persistent, though, not to mention plucky despite a great deal of tears throughout and from many. What is surprising is Lost Letters being in fact a tragedy with an unexpected suicide. It is presented carefully, emotionally and with the hindsight of the final page, might make sense to some, but there is little to prepare anyone for this ending. The very last page leaves you despondent. Maybe, as in real life, suicide leaves one with more questions than answers.
