In the Pines: 5 Murder Ballads

by Erik Kriek

In the Pines is een verzameling van vijf beeldverhalen die gebaseerd zijn op murder ballads: traditionele songs die reppen over een, al dan niet waargebeurde, dramatische moord. Het zijn rauwe verhalen waarin onbeantwoorde liefdes, crimes passionels, woede, jaloezie en hebzucht een grote rol spelen. De muziek is diep geworteld in de Amerikaanse traditie en nog altijd worden nieuwe murder ballads geschreven door o.a. Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan, Steve Earle en Nick Cave.

Erik Kriek koestert al jaren een grote liefde voor deze muziek en koos voor In the Pines een vijftal favoriete songs. Deze gebruikte hij als uitgangspunt voor zijn eigenzinnige beeldverhalen. De songteksten van Nick Cave, Johnny Cash, Gillian Welch en Steve Earle vormden de inspiratie voor vijf grimmige verhalen over liefde, verraad, het leven en - uiteraard - de dood. De tekeningen ademen de sfeer van het Amerikaanse platteland van begin vorige eeuw. In de uitgestrekte naaldbossen gebeuren zaken die het daglicht soms maar moeilijk kunnen verdragen...

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Short Stories, Horror, Crime, Music, Fiction

136 pages, Hardcover

First published February 17, 2016

About the author

Erik Kriek is an award-winning illustrator, designer and comic artist from Amsterdam. He is best known for his Gutsman comics, for which he won the Dutch award Stripschaprijis in 2008. In 2012 he published From Beyond and Other Tales, his collection of graphic reworkings of short stories by H.P.Lovecraft. Among his influences are US artists Daniel Clowes, Will Eisner, Charles Burns and Chris Ware, as well as the classic 1940s horror comics of E.C. Comics by such artists as Wallace Wood. He has also expressed admiration for Dutch artists including Peter Pontiac, Typex and Peter van Dongen. He lives in the Netherlands with his girlfriend and son.

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Start here, if you have a few minutes, with the actual murder ballads (linked to below), many of them American country and bluegrass, a couple of them traditional songs, of course. but this is a graphic novel honoring this tradition by Dutch musician and illustrator Erik Kriek, highlighting the fact that murder ballads have always been with us.

The stories are good, the art well done, from a horror comics perspective, languorous and creepy and sexy and somewhat less narrative (more lyrical, poetic) than the originals. One review likes how the graphic novel comes with a cd by Kriek, but mine in the U.S. did not ☹ though here are some great versions:

“The Long Black Veil,” is a 1959 country ballad, written by Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin and originally recorded by Lefty Frizzell. Here it is sung by Mick Jagger with The Chieftains:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F-4r...

“Carolina in the Pines,” sung and written by Michael McMurphey in 1975.

https://video.search.yahoo.com/search...

Steve Earle’s “Taneytown,”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpEn1...

“Pretty Polly,” with Ralph Stanley and Linda Lovelace:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XV7m...

Kylie Mionoque and Nick Cave perform “Where the Wild RosesGrow”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chF24...

Caleb Meyer, by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nugXk...

[Tristan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever since 2012, which saw the publication of Erik Kriek's Het onzienbare en andere verhalen, a collection of adaptations of some of H.P. Lovecraft's tales, comics enthusiasts have been eagerly looking forward to new work by the Dutch cartoonist. Finally, it is here.

Kriek's distinctive, highly evocative drawing style has always been perfectly suited to dark themed stories, so it shouldn't be a surprise that he truly comes into his own working in that darkest of American storytelling traditions, the murder ballad. It's his best work to date, without question.



Instead of merely illustrating well-known murder ballads like Pretty Polly and the Ship’s Carpenter, The Long Black Veil, Taneytown, Caleb Meyer and Where the Wild Roses Grow, Kriek has crafted his own idiosyncratic interpretations of them, and even altered or inserted plot elements, which in some cases raises the dramatic impact significantly. Further praise has to be given for his meticulous research into 19th/early 20th century America. Scenery, wardrobe, historical details, all these elements come together nicely. One nearly doubts if he truly is Dutch, and not American. Rare feat.

To top it all off, this graphic novel comes with a CD, which offers covers of all 5 songs by the band The Blue Grass Boogieman with Erik Kriek himself on some vocals and guitar. As a bonus, In The Pines is also included. All in all, this is an exemplary release. Hopefully, Kriek will do another volume of murder ballads in the future, which contains that one. I'll be first in line when it hits my local comic shop.

[Milena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Preporučujem ovaj strip o ubistvenim baladama baš po ovim vrućinama i asfaltu koji se topi, ionako se svi gledamo po ulicama sa mržnjom u očima, samo imamo hirurške maske umesto bandana
Divlji Zapad ovog leta baš u vašem kraju

Evo i plejliste da ide uz kad procedite kroz zube koju psovku kretenu koji vas je isekao na raskrsnici ili gurnuo u supermarketu:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wazmyd...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g8BV6...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDpnjE...

[Ajeje Brazov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Son raccolte qui le trasposizioni fumettistiche di 5 murder ballads, cioè quelle canzoni popolari, dei paesi anglosassoni, qui nello specifico degli Stati Uniti, dove il protagonista incontrastato è l'assassinio, tra fanatismo religioso, razzismo, violenza e fiumi di alcol. L'autore ci immerge in queste inquietanti storie con un suo stile molto caratteristico, le tavole hanno un tratto molto marcato, soprattutto quando si sofferma sugli sguardi, spaventati, terrorizzati dei protagonisti, ma anche sui luoghi che fanno da sfondo alle ballads, una sterminata distesa di pini!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN7fp...

[Teal]

Clunk. Clever idea, ham-fisted execution. Just listen to the songs instead.

[Sara the Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a neat little read. Artist and author Erik Kriek has taken five folks songs from the "murder ballad" genre and turned them into a series of sinister and sad vignette's of murder most foul. From a young woman dallying with a sinister escaped convict while her mother is away to a man who'd rather hang for a murder he didn't commit then ruin the reputation of his lover by using her as an alibi, there's a little something for every classic true crime lover.

Kriek's style is very languorous and meandering. There's a lot of flow to everything like character's clothes or the horizon of the forests and endless countryside where most of the stories are set. His pallet is all greenish grey shadow and the faces of his characters are sort of flowing like a river all the time, everyone's got big lips and haunted eyes, characters drawn kissing or having sex seem almost to be melting into each other. There's a deep feeling of melancholy to every story even the ones where the bad guy gets his just desserts, which I suppose makes sense as we are talking about murder. But there's also a sort of magical, folk tale quality to each story that gives it just enough magic to keep things from being entirely depressing.

I really enjoyed this. It was a quick read before bed but I found myself really getting lost in each panel and very intrigued to seek out the songs each story is based on. My own experience with murder ballads is more or less limited to "Tom Dooley" and I think I might just have to remedy that.

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the *idea* of taking "murder ballads" and turning them into illustrated short stories, but the unfortunate fact is that many of them, stripped of music and lyrics, aren't the most interesting or coherent stories.

The art was nice, but I think the book would have been better served by a different style for each ballad, rather than all the same look.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was sold on this graphic novel as soon as I read murder ballads in the title! I've long been a fan of narrative songs that tell a story, with Appalachian-inspired murder ballads being particularly appealing to me. I have paired a mini-synopsis of each story with a rendition of the song it is based on. Often these songs have been covered by many artists, but I selected versions that were most well-known, or I just really liked the singer.

Author and illustrator Erik Kriek is actually Danish, but took an American type of ballad, and turned it into a new type of art. He didn't just adapt the song straight into comic form, instead, he interpreted the lyrics to tell a fresh story, sometimes to my liking and sometimes not. The art was in duotone, with a different color for each tale. Reminiscent of scratch art or wood reliefs, Kriek's black inks were evocative of Appalachian landscapes and times gone by.

Pretty Polly and the Ship's Carpenter

This song is the oldest of the bunch, as early versions were sung in the British Isles hundreds of years ago. In it, a woman is enticed by a sailor who promises he will marry her, but when she becomes pregnant because of their liaison and pushes for marriage, he instead kills her. He is racked by guilt and supposedly Polly's ghost haunts his ship, wanting revenge. I did not like one of the last panels because I don't see how Polly would ever forgive him.

https://youtu.be/3XV7mxfIIr0

The Long Black Veil

A man is having an affair with his best friend's wife, and one night while heading home after a rendezvous, is mistaken for the killer of a local man. Not willing to betray his lover, he is hanged for he had no alibi. This story has a neat twist, that I always guessed at, but is not explicitly said in the song.

Johnny Cash is king, thus I shared one of his renditions, but Mick Jagger did a good version of the song with The Chieftains.

https://youtu.be/5pYA46dyKh4

Taneytown

Made famous by singer Steve Earle, this story tells of a young black man who heads into Taneytown against his mother's advice. Upon arriving, he is set upon by a white mob and kills one of them in self-defense on his way back home. He later finds out an innocent man was accused of the crime and was hung.

https://youtu.be/SpEn1lWBY7k

Caleb Meyer

When Nellie's husband is away, the hired man comes to terrorize her as she is left alone in a remote cabin. The most violent and graphic of all the dark stories. Although justice is served, there is an uncomfortable reveal at the end of the story, when you infer that Caleb left behind a reminder of that terrible night.

https://youtu.be/nugXkgd_-84

Where The Wild Roses Grow

Kriek took the most artistic license with this song written and sung by Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue, and because I was already a huge fan of this moody ballad and video, I didn't enjoy this adaptation as much as the others.

An escaped convict meets a young woman who helps him saw off his chains, and who is easily seduced by him. Despite this, he threatens to kill her if she doesn't hand over money that he assumes was hidden by her father who was known for robbing several banks. The conclusion was rather talky and clunky, and I didn't think it was a good match for this murder ballad.

https://youtu.be/chF244LWWqg

This book sent me on many music journeys, as I enjoyed listening to ballad after ballad and reminding me of family vacations in the Appalachian region where my parents took my younger sister and me to music festivals and to watch clogging. So while this post became more an ode to music than to the book, it was a fun read and I'm glad I discovered it!

This review can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2020/01/1...

[Koen Claeys · Rating 5 out of 5]

Erik Kriek is een uitermate getalenteerd striptekenaar/illustrator en na het grandioze 'Het Onzienbare' wordt dit talent nog eens bevestigd... Toen hij twee jaar geleden zijn plannen voor dit album liet weten vreesde ik een beetje voor geïllustreerde liedjesteksten maar (gelukkig) blijkt dit project zoveel meer te zijn. Vijf murder ballads werden verwerkt tot kortverhalen waarbij Kriek verre van slaafs volgt wat het bronmateriaal oplegt. Dit is duidelijk opnieuw een project waar hij met hart en ziel aan gewerkt heeft. Dit blijkt niet enkel uit het meesterlijke tekenwerk maar ook uit de bijgevoegde cd waarop Kriek, ondersteund door The Blue Grass Boogiemen, op magistrale wijze de ziel uit zijn lijf zingt. De man kan zijn labeur aan de tekentafel gerust combineren met een muziekcarrière vol sex, drugs en rock'n roll... Opnieuw kunnen we constateren dat de heer Kriek zich voor meer dan 100% heeft overgegeven aan iets wat hem nauw aan het hart ligt, een prestatie dat enkel respect en lees -en luistergenot oplevert.
Superlatieven schieten me te kort...

P.S. Scratch Books zorgde voor een passende, uiterst verzorgde uitgave.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murder ballads have been a popular theme in American roots music. The songs tell stories about murders that are either fiction, or based on a true story. Erik Kriek selected five murder ballads and used them as inspiration for five comic stories. These five stories are collected in this graphic novel.

Some stories work better than others, but the drawings are all excellent! Each story has a twist though, before the inevitable murder happens. This keeps each of them interesting from beginning till end, even though you sometimes see what's coming from miles ahead. The stories are as much about the murders, as they are about the characters that committed them. Each for their own reasons. The stories are set against an early 1900's American background that enable Kriek to deal with subjects such as racism, public hangings, rape, shipping and bank robbery.

As an added bonus each of the five songs that inspired the stories in the book are included on cd. Not the originals, but covers performed by the Bluegrass Boogiemen with Erik Kriek.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

These goofy tales are not so much adaptations of murder ballads as they are twisty crime stories in the style of the old EC Comics line that take their cues from the songs' lyrics but often dramatically add to and change the stories contained therein. And not for the better. I was hoping for something a little more true to the source material.

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

The artwork is so beautiful – Kriek's drawing style is lovely, and the use of a single colour in each story works so well. Although I did really enjoy this book, I was a little disappointed by the plots and the prose. As the stories are based on murder ballads, I'd hoped that a lyrical, rhythmic prose might be used. Of course the book is translated so I don't know how much that affected it, but I think the book would be so much stronger if repetition and allusion had been used in the prose, as in song lyrics. Still, it's a lovely book, and I wish it was twice the length.

[Adrijana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sjajna grafička novela o 5 zločina sa neočekivanim obrtom. Baš sam se prijatno iznenadila, nisam očekivala da mi se ovoliko dopadne.

[Marko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genijalno.
Fenomenalan crtež i sjajne priče.
Šteta sto format izdanja nije veći.

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has a lot going for it, with a cool concept, exciting stories and an interesting art style. IN THE PINES will rope in not just graphic novel fans, but those who enjoy legends, Americana, and classic folk tunes.

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent graphic novel adaptation of five murder ballads from the Great American Songbook

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came across this book while searching for titles related to murder ballads, since I am researching them for my 2019 Nanowrimo novel. I was a little surprised that this book even existed. I've been contemplating a creative project involving murder ballads for quite a few years, and at one point I had considering some kind of graphic novel.

In any case, this is a collection of five graphic shorts based on murder ballads. As the end notes explain, some of these were traditional ballads, others had more modern roots, and like me, the artist/author was inspired by the Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds "Murder Ballads" album. One of the stories included was based both on "The Willow Garden" (a traditional ballad) and Nick Cave & Kylie Minogue's song based on that ballad, "Where the Wild Roses Grow."

My favorite of the stories was "Long Black Veil" which had the most traditional source, and was the most straightforward interpretation of the source material. The artwork throughout has the style of a woodcut and the coloring is limited to 3 or 4 colors, giving it an old-fashioned feel (and seriously, I had considered doing linoleum tile cuts when I was thinking about a murder ballad graphic novel, to give the feel of woodcuts, so this style really resonated with me). My only issue with the artwork was that it was difficult to differentiate between different characters and most especially in the story "Taneytown" it was hard to tell that the main characters were black (since the story is about racial relations, I can't decide if this was intentional or not).

Given how little information I've been able to find about murder ballads in print, I'm glad this book exists to prove that I'm not the only person who finds them interesting!

[Željko Obrenović · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pamtite li Kejvov album Murder Ballads? I pesmu s Kajli Minog Tamo gde rastu divlje ruže? Čitav album je posvećen ispovestima zločinaca, kako i naziv poručuje. Kad je reč o ovom album -- strip albumu -- pred nama su takođe povesti o ubistvima, ponekad ispričane iz perspektive žrtve, ponekad zločinca, a ponekad i jednih i drugih jer se ta tanka linija u tmurnom svetu koji prikazuju često potpuno briše.

Tradicija ovakvih pesama vezuje se za Ameriku, ali su mnoge od njih doputovale na brodovima iz Evrope i usmeno se prenosile, menjale i tesale za večnost.

Svaka od predstavljenih priča sadrži svojevrsni preokret, ali se on zapravo sve vreme naslućuje; i bolje je što je tako jer bi inače njegov učinak bio antiklimaktičan. Ovako imamo storije koje nas ne iznenađuju, već prosto svedoče o izopačenoj ljudskoj prirodi najbolje što umeju.

Crtež je alternativan, no veoma vešt, crno-beo, tek s jednom dodatnom bojom za senčenje, koja se menja od epizode do epizode. Što sve sjajno doprinosi opštoj atmosferi i konceptu.

Dok sam čitao ovaj grafički roman, u glavi mi je osim Kejva bio i Embroz Birs, kao i film braće Koen The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. A to bi već trebalo da pobudi dovoljno asocijacija.

Apsolutna preporuka.

[Morvling Bookink · Rating 5 out of 5]

And she, fair, slit his sorry throat.

I LOVE MURDER BALLADS.

And they mentioned Nick's album in the epilogue/explanation of course, which was a must. But I really liked how Kriek changed the outcome and storyline of Where The Wild Roses Grow in order to differ the interest of the story, as with the rest of the ballads too, which made it yes a unique piece of art - rather than just a copy in a different style (there's a difference).

The art was very good, an obviously dark outlook on the original comicbook style. The writing was a bit obvious in parts - two pages in and they don't even use any innuendos or disguised comments to show that "you are my wife, after all!" or "don't let my husband, who is your best friend you know, find out!" But Kriek obviously has studied American dialects, as a Dutch person, which is admirable and I just love dialects. I love dialects because they're both an abomination of grammar rules and thus an expansion and a re-invention of language.

But yes, I am very mercilessly excited and overjoyed that this has been the first book for me to finish in 2023!

[Breña · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fünf Kurzgeschichten, die auf sogenannten murder ballads basieren. Man muss kein Fan von (Dark) Americana sein, um das Buch zu schätzen - auch wenn ich das eine oder andere Stück im Ohr hatte, höre ich meist andere Musik.
Die Zeichnungen sind reduziert und ausdrucksstark, jede Geschichte hat ein monochromes Farbschema. Die Sprünge innerhalb der Erzählungen sind meiner Meinung nach nicht immer gelungen, die kurze Erzählform insgesamt aber gut genutzt.
Wer neugierig auf das Genre geworden ist, muss nicht das Internet bemühen. In einem anschließenden Text liefert Musikjournalist Jan Donkers weitere Informationen.

[Midnight Blue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish the title ballad had been included in the book. I've always loved tragic ballads, not necessarily the murder ones exclusively, I also love the tragic and beautiful ones. Check out The River in the Pines as sung by Joan Baez, or Richard Cory as sung by Simon and Garfunkel or The Beatles. I love a good aching, melancholy story of a song; probably due to the Irish in my heritage......

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murder ballads given the graphic novel treatment! Reminding me a lot of the old EC comics (The Vault of Terror and Tales From the Crypt). The only thing that would have made this better would have been to include the lyrics of each song picked. But still, loved it!

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

Very ‘western’ feel to it.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love murder ballads and I love EC Comics-style artwork, so this is a very fun combo.

[مصطفي سليمان · Rating 5 out of 5]

خمس قصص قصيرة ممتازة من حيث الفكرة أو التناول أو الكتابة
5 جرائم
مختلفين من حيث التناول مفيش رابط واضح ما بينهم ولكن علي مستوي الكادرات والكتابة والتصميم لطاف للغاية

[Imran Mahmud · Rating 4 out of 5]

Small, but twisting murder stories.

[Katrina Southern · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought I had my first reading month all planned out, but this one snuck in as my first read of the year, and I'm not too mad about it! I've really been trying to read more graphic novels, particularly lesser known ones on interesting topics. I don't know TOO much about murder ballads, a fairly popular music genre, but I know that they tell interesting stories, and Kriek's work made me want to look them up!

The stories were dark and that's what I liked most about them. What do you expect from a book about murder ballads I suppose? The illustrations that accompanied each story were suitably coloured and drawn, and while I didn't LOVE them, I liked them a lot. My favourite stories were probably 'Where The Wild Roses Go' or 'The Long Black Veil' thanks to the dramatic twist endings. I've since had a listen to the songs themselves and realised some of these additions were down to Kriek himself, so that impressed me a lot. Some of them FELT short though, and that's because there wasn't a whole lot of dialogue in parts. Stories like this are always about mood and atmosphere of course, but I guess I would have liked to have seen a little more padding out. Still, I'm glad I read this. It has introduced me to a new genre of music and type of legend that I haven't looked too deeply into in the past.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compelling concept and fantastic art. The stories aren't particularly memorable, but as adaptations of folk songs they're nicely realized.

[Arvid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prima tekenwerk... de uitwerking van de nummers en de nabespreking door Jan Donkers zijn helaas magertjes.

[Grania · Rating 4 out of 5]

Playlist to accompany this book. https://m.mixcloud.com/arthurdog/in-t...