Face Control - A Moscow Travelogue
December 7, 2014 6:19 AM Subscribe
Face Control - A Moscow Travelogue [via mefi projects] Krish Raghav wrote this beautiful minicomic about his observations on a trip to Moscow: the people, the city, the history.
Click on the MeFi Projects link for a couple of alternate ways to read the comic.
Click on the MeFi Projects link for a couple of alternate ways to read the comic.
Wonderful.
Easier to read through Issuu (that'll save you a trip to the mefi projects page)
posted by Thisandthat at 7:12 AM on December 7, 2014
Easier to read through Issuu (that'll save you a trip to the mefi projects page)
posted by Thisandthat at 7:12 AM on December 7, 2014
This is cool. Thanks for posting it.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:19 AM on December 7, 2014
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:19 AM on December 7, 2014
A really enjoyable read, I didn't want it to end. Especially love the drawing style and page layouts, and the Alison Bechdel-esque watercolor work. So many pretty elements that it is pointless to begin listing them, but the last page with the poem is gorgeous. If I were to make a suggestion, I think the cover doesn't really capture the feeling of the comic. It makes me expect some sort of spy thriller, and I just felt like you had so many beautiful drawings inside the strip that it seems unfortunate to me not to display one on the front. Something like what's listed as page 8 in the Issuu link would, I think, be a good fit.
I was thinking in my head repeatedly "I must go to Moscow" until it just became "Moscow to Moscow."
posted by Corduroy at 10:38 AM on December 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
I was thinking in my head repeatedly "I must go to Moscow" until it just became "Moscow to Moscow."
posted by Corduroy at 10:38 AM on December 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
I feel like I've been to Moscow with a cool, welcoming friend. That's a rare treat - thanks for posting!
posted by dylanjames at 10:47 AM on December 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by dylanjames at 10:47 AM on December 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
I feel like I've been to Moscow because I live in new york city and many of these things including the stereotypical tourist advice seem similar. (Avoid the homeless! Bouncers are racist! Even McDonalds is overpriced!)
Minus the giant Soviet art that everyone hates tho.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 11:23 AM on December 7, 2014
Minus the giant Soviet art that everyone hates tho.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 11:23 AM on December 7, 2014
Oh and- this is an incredible wonderful comic. Great great great. Thanks for posting.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 11:24 AM on December 7, 2014
posted by Potomac Avenue at 11:24 AM on December 7, 2014
So Moscow is the new Brooklyn?
Kidding, awesome comic. And high up on my to-travel list. And NYC could use more Soviet art. I, for one, would be happy if NYC subway stations were even a fraction as pretty as their Moscow equivalents. I mean just look at Mayakovskaya station (mentioned in the comic) - you put that in NYC and within a year the floor would be covered in black smudge marks from chewing gum, the paint would be peeling in gigantic pieces from the ceiling, and there'd be a metric ton of garbage all over the tracks. And the Moscow Metro is the world's busiest by daily ridership!
posted by pravit at 11:31 AM on December 7, 2014
Kidding, awesome comic. And high up on my to-travel list. And NYC could use more Soviet art. I, for one, would be happy if NYC subway stations were even a fraction as pretty as their Moscow equivalents. I mean just look at Mayakovskaya station (mentioned in the comic) - you put that in NYC and within a year the floor would be covered in black smudge marks from chewing gum, the paint would be peeling in gigantic pieces from the ceiling, and there'd be a metric ton of garbage all over the tracks. And the Moscow Metro is the world's busiest by daily ridership!
posted by pravit at 11:31 AM on December 7, 2014
So Moscow is the new Brooklyn?
where artists and entrepreneurs are the new vanguard.
posted by ennui.bz at 11:51 AM on December 7, 2014
where artists and entrepreneurs are the new vanguard.
posted by ennui.bz at 11:51 AM on December 7, 2014
Haven't ever thought of it this way, but I think Moscow is my favorite city, and this comic gets to a lot of why.
So Moscow is the new Brooklyn?
A couple years ago I was there for a month and ran across a craft fair where there was someone selling artisinal bow-ties, so maybe...
And there's an annual (I think) event called the Tweed Ride which is a vintage bicycle gathering with tweed clothing. And there was a fancy moustache-themed pelmeni restaurant that had just opened on Tverskaya. Not sure whether it's still around, but definitely felt like it'd be right at home in Brooklyn. The pelmeni weren't spectacular and the portions were small...not really my kind of place. But there's a lot more going on than that sort of thing.
I mean just look at Mayakovskaya station (mentioned in the comic) - you put that in NYC and within a year the floor would be covered in black smudge marks from chewing gum, the paint would be peeling in gigantic pieces from the ceiling, and there'd be a metric ton of garbage all over the tracks.
Yes, the stations are beautiful, but it's still a working and heavily-trafficked transit system. That wikipedia image is very idealized. It's dimly lit and you'll rarely if ever see it empty. There will be crowds and drunks and empty bottles and snack bags strewn about and everything else you'd expect in a busy subway platform.
posted by msbrauer at 1:41 PM on December 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
So Moscow is the new Brooklyn?
A couple years ago I was there for a month and ran across a craft fair where there was someone selling artisinal bow-ties, so maybe...
And there's an annual (I think) event called the Tweed Ride which is a vintage bicycle gathering with tweed clothing. And there was a fancy moustache-themed pelmeni restaurant that had just opened on Tverskaya. Not sure whether it's still around, but definitely felt like it'd be right at home in Brooklyn. The pelmeni weren't spectacular and the portions were small...not really my kind of place. But there's a lot more going on than that sort of thing.
I mean just look at Mayakovskaya station (mentioned in the comic) - you put that in NYC and within a year the floor would be covered in black smudge marks from chewing gum, the paint would be peeling in gigantic pieces from the ceiling, and there'd be a metric ton of garbage all over the tracks.
Yes, the stations are beautiful, but it's still a working and heavily-trafficked transit system. That wikipedia image is very idealized. It's dimly lit and you'll rarely if ever see it empty. There will be crowds and drunks and empty bottles and snack bags strewn about and everything else you'd expect in a busy subway platform.
posted by msbrauer at 1:41 PM on December 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
Ah, I remember face control from my Moscow trip in 2002. Only got into one place because the guy I was with knew, and phoned, the owner. I wasn't wearing nice enough shoes apparently.
posted by knapah at 2:23 PM on December 7, 2014
posted by knapah at 2:23 PM on December 7, 2014
Holy wow, I made it to the front page.
Thanks for posting my project, and for everyone's kind words!
My Muscovite friends all tell me that I visited the city at the 'right' time - in that narrow slice of fall when everything is pleasant and lovely, and the whole city is out sunbathing in Gorky Park.
"Stay an entire year and then tell me you still love Moscow," they said.
I probably will. I can't wait to go back.
posted by beijingbrown at 5:12 PM on December 7, 2014 [5 favorites]
Thanks for posting my project, and for everyone's kind words!
My Muscovite friends all tell me that I visited the city at the 'right' time - in that narrow slice of fall when everything is pleasant and lovely, and the whole city is out sunbathing in Gorky Park.
"Stay an entire year and then tell me you still love Moscow," they said.
I probably will. I can't wait to go back.
posted by beijingbrown at 5:12 PM on December 7, 2014 [5 favorites]
Really enjoyable and er, informational. A pleasure, thanks!
posted by Wolof at 12:40 AM on December 8, 2014
posted by Wolof at 12:40 AM on December 8, 2014
This is great.
For anyone who misses those characteristic stone-cold facial expressions and interactions, go visit Brighton Beach in Brooklyn. (My folks call it "medicine for nostalgia.")
posted by parudox at 1:14 AM on December 8, 2014 [2 favorites]
For anyone who misses those characteristic stone-cold facial expressions and interactions, go visit Brighton Beach in Brooklyn. (My folks call it "medicine for nostalgia.")
posted by parudox at 1:14 AM on December 8, 2014 [2 favorites]
« Older OSI: The Internet That Wasn’t | "I cannot even remember a day when I didn't want... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by mothershock at 6:50 AM on December 7, 2014