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Cinema Panopticum
T. Ott plunges into the darkness with five new graphic horror "The Prophet," "The Wonder Pill," "La Lucha," "The Hotel," and the title story, each executed in his hallucinatory and hyper-detailed scratchboard style and running between 16 to 20 pages. The first story in the book introduces the other A little girl visits an amusement park. She looks fascinated, but finds everything too expensive. Finally, behind the rollercoaster she eyeballs a small booth with "CINEMA PANOPTICUM" written on it. Inside there are boxes with screens. Every box contains a movie; the title of each appears on each screen. Each costs only a dime, so the price is right for the little girl. She puts her money in the first "The Prophet" begins. In the film, a vagrant foresees the end of the world and tries to warn people, but nobody believes him. They will soon enough. In the second film, "The Wonderpill," a short-sighted man initially goes blind from some pills his doctor gave him, but soon the blindness wears off and he finds they accord quite a view. "La Lucha," the third story, introduces a Mexican wrestler who fights against death himself. In a typical Ott twist, he wins and loses at the same time. The final story, "The Hotel," depicts a traveler who goes to sleep in what seems to be an otherwise empty hotel. His awakening is the stuff of nightmares... Ott's O. Henry-esque plot twists will delight fans of classic horror like The Twilight Zone and Tales From the Crypt , or modern efforts like M. Night Shamalayan's films; his artwork will haunt you long after you've put the book down.
104 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2005
8 people are currently reading
2588 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Ott
37 books177 followers"Thomas Ott was born in Zürich in 1966. He received training as a graphic artist at the School of Design in Zürich and has been a free-lance comics artist and illustrator since 1987. From 1998-2001 Ott attended film studies at the University of Art and Design (HGK), Zürich. He currently lives and works in Zürich and Paris. Ott is also the lead singer of The Playboys." -Fantagraphics Books
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 205 reviews
May 9, 2025
یک کتاب گرافیکی بدون کلام
اصلنننن انتظارشو نداشتم اینقد جذاب و خفن باشه
کابوس و وحشت واقعی رو بدون حتی یک کلمه به آدم منتقل میکنه و بنظرم این شاهکاره
اصلنننن انتظارشو نداشتم اینقد جذاب و خفن باشه
کابوس و وحشت واقعی رو بدون حتی یک کلمه به آدم منتقل میکنه و بنظرم این شاهکاره
October 16, 2024
4,5*
Para quem faz de Outubro o mês do horror, Thomas Ott será uma escolha muito acertada. Desde o traço sorumbático a preto e branco, em que os tons escuros prevalecem largamente sobre os claros, até aos enredos inusitados com finais chocantes a fazer lembrar “The Twillight Zone”, “Cinema Panopticum” é de facto uma GN muda bem conseguida, em que a imagem do panóptico que se encontra no enquadramento inicial do cinescópio é repetida na última história, “The Prophet””, numa pescadinha-de-rabo-na-boca bastante inteligente. Foi, no entanto, a subversão de “The Hotel” que me deixou de queixo caído.
Para quem faz de Outubro o mês do horror, Thomas Ott será uma escolha muito acertada. Desde o traço sorumbático a preto e branco, em que os tons escuros prevalecem largamente sobre os claros, até aos enredos inusitados com finais chocantes a fazer lembrar “The Twillight Zone”, “Cinema Panopticum” é de facto uma GN muda bem conseguida, em que a imagem do panóptico que se encontra no enquadramento inicial do cinescópio é repetida na última história, “The Prophet””, numa pescadinha-de-rabo-na-boca bastante inteligente. Foi, no entanto, a subversão de “The Hotel” que me deixou de queixo caído.
October 14, 2024
O senhor Ott, mais uma vez, traz desenhos/ilustrações estrondosas! Neste Cinema Panopticum temos uma menina que vai à feira de variedades, mas tem poucas moedas para as diversões mais convencionais. Com as suas parcas patacas vai ao cinetoscópio e visualiza cinco pequenas histórias:
- A garota;
- O hotel;
- O campeão;
- O experimento;
- O profeta.
Cada história é uma pequena maravilha! As expressões dos intervenientes são muito bem retratadas, sente-se o medo em cada desenho, a angústia e o desespero. Muito bom!
- A garota;
- O hotel;
- O campeão;
- O experimento;
- O profeta.
Cada história é uma pequena maravilha! As expressões dos intervenientes são muito bem retratadas, sente-se o medo em cada desenho, a angústia e o desespero. Muito bom!
July 30, 2019
In this silent short story collection, a girl visits a fair where she can only afford one attraction, a "cinema" which will allow her to experience five absurd and horrible stories.
1. The hotel
A man makes himself comfortable in an apparently empty hotel.
2. The champion
A wrestler has to fight his last demon.
3. The experiment
Don't forget to take your meds.
4. The prophet
The truth is out there.
5. The girl
Some things just can't be unseen.
A mysterious, intriguing and disturbing collection. One of the author's best!
1. The hotel
A man makes himself comfortable in an apparently empty hotel.
2. The champion
A wrestler has to fight his last demon.
3. The experiment
Don't forget to take your meds.
4. The prophet
The truth is out there.
5. The girl
Some things just can't be unseen.
A mysterious, intriguing and disturbing collection. One of the author's best!
September 1, 2014
The framing device of the book is of a girl at a carnival who discovers that she hasn’t enough money for any of the rides or stalls - that is until she finds a small, unattended attraction called Cinema Panopticum. Inside it are 5 sets with screens, all cheap. She puts a coin in each and watches them one by one...
The Hotel is a Kafka-esque tale of a man wanting to stay the night in, what turns out to be, an empty hotel. Finding a lavish spread in one room, he feasts upon it and then goes to bed. He awakens in the middle of the night with an ache in his gut... why is this hotel empty?
The Champion sees a Mexican wrestler literally fighting for his life against Death. The Prophet follows a homeless man and his attempts to spread the word that the world is doomed. The Experiment features a mad scientist and his experiment on a man with poor eyesight.
Thomas Ott excels at the storytelling in all of the shorts here, all without words. The black and white scratchboard technique he uses so skilfully perfectly matches the tone of mounting horror in each of the macabre stories and has you rifling through the pages, devouring each brilliant story much too quickly!
As with all of Ott's books you can fly through it in minutes because it’s all pictures, but I always find myself going back and looking at individual pages again to admire the time each page must’ve taken as well as to simply enjoy the haunting imagery. The level of artistry is just astonishingly high.
Cinema Panopticum is my favourite Thomas Ott book and I heartily recommend this, and his entire body of work, to all comics fans. His nightmares are too good not to be experienced!
The Hotel is a Kafka-esque tale of a man wanting to stay the night in, what turns out to be, an empty hotel. Finding a lavish spread in one room, he feasts upon it and then goes to bed. He awakens in the middle of the night with an ache in his gut... why is this hotel empty?
The Champion sees a Mexican wrestler literally fighting for his life against Death. The Prophet follows a homeless man and his attempts to spread the word that the world is doomed. The Experiment features a mad scientist and his experiment on a man with poor eyesight.
Thomas Ott excels at the storytelling in all of the shorts here, all without words. The black and white scratchboard technique he uses so skilfully perfectly matches the tone of mounting horror in each of the macabre stories and has you rifling through the pages, devouring each brilliant story much too quickly!
As with all of Ott's books you can fly through it in minutes because it’s all pictures, but I always find myself going back and looking at individual pages again to admire the time each page must’ve taken as well as to simply enjoy the haunting imagery. The level of artistry is just astonishingly high.
Cinema Panopticum is my favourite Thomas Ott book and I heartily recommend this, and his entire body of work, to all comics fans. His nightmares are too good not to be experienced!
July 16, 2025
Gorgeously rendered black and white scratchboard graphic novel of a girl who goes to a carnival to pay pennies to see four thoughtful, not graphic, but still successfully unsettling horror movies in what is called Cinema Panopticum. Silent, and thus somehow even more unsettling. One of several sort of similar and silent works by Ott. Terrific work, highly recommend.
January 22, 2013
From the framing story of The Girl wandering the carnival to the vignettes she discovers in the Cinema Panopticum, this wordless graphic novel is a complete "artifact" with no loose ends. The stories are surreal and horrific with a touch of dark humor. Cinema Panopticum reminds me, in many ways, of my favorite TV show of all time, The Twilight Zone. This work might be considered the flip side to the cute, surreal Ojingogo, with one side of the coin (Panopticum) having a drop of humor in a bucket of surreal horror, and the other (Ojingogo) having a drop of darkness to its bucket of lighthearted, surreal humor. But readers need not compare Cinema Panopticum to other works in order to see the work's brilliance. It stands quite well on its own as a book in which the weight of the artwork is commensurate with the gravity of the stories it portrays. The scratchboard technique used throughout is, by its very nature, a little rough-edged, though this grittiness is foiled by the elegance of expression that Ott imparts to his characters. His faces exude the underlying thoughts and feelings of each character: curiosity, laughter, disgust, and, most of all, terror; all in a wonderfully clever and even moving series of wordless stories that one will not soon forget.
July 16, 2021
How can something so short leave a big impact?
5 stories are connected by the main character, a little nameless girl visiting a fair. Having little money, she can't pay for any games so she wanders off and finds a cinema with 5 short films each low cost.
All of the stories have a mixture of realism and fantasy, and the lack of words leaves the "reader" relying on his vision to see what is the true meaning of the main story and 4 substories.
That being said all of the characters from the five stories are already present at the fair, and the word panoptic means all-seeing, in an ethical sense the panopticon is a disciplinary concept where the people are being watched by an "all-seeing" guard and they never know that they are being watched.
This book brings the idea of a materialistic community in a panopticon, and the main question arises, who is the watcher?
5 stories are connected by the main character, a little nameless girl visiting a fair. Having little money, she can't pay for any games so she wanders off and finds a cinema with 5 short films each low cost.
All of the stories have a mixture of realism and fantasy, and the lack of words leaves the "reader" relying on his vision to see what is the true meaning of the main story and 4 substories.
That being said all of the characters from the five stories are already present at the fair, and the word panoptic means all-seeing, in an ethical sense the panopticon is a disciplinary concept where the people are being watched by an "all-seeing" guard and they never know that they are being watched.
This book brings the idea of a materialistic community in a panopticon, and the main question arises, who is the watcher?
April 20, 2018
3,5
Cuando leí que era un comic ampliamente recomendado para fans de "Cuentos de la Cripta" y "La Dimensión Desconocida" sentí que era inconcebible que yo no lo leyera, siendo fanática a muerte de ambas series. Y efectivamente sentí la vibra de estas series, cosa que me gustó mucho, aunque las historias se me hicieron exageradamente cortas, un poco insípidas, daban para una extensión mayor. Por otro lado, esas ilustraciones en blanco y negro son verdaderamente alucinantes, muy acordes al tipo de historias que se encuentran en este comic.
Cuando leí que era un comic ampliamente recomendado para fans de "Cuentos de la Cripta" y "La Dimensión Desconocida" sentí que era inconcebible que yo no lo leyera, siendo fanática a muerte de ambas series. Y efectivamente sentí la vibra de estas series, cosa que me gustó mucho, aunque las historias se me hicieron exageradamente cortas, un poco insípidas, daban para una extensión mayor. Por otro lado, esas ilustraciones en blanco y negro son verdaderamente alucinantes, muy acordes al tipo de historias que se encuentran en este comic.
January 16, 2016
A grotesque graphic novel, wordless and, thus, completely atmospheric, that consists of a series of stories, or rather vignettes, that are all linked together.
Absolutely mesmerizing, with healthy doses of Kafka-esque dark humour.
Absolutely mesmerizing, with healthy doses of Kafka-esque dark humour.
Read
July 16, 2021Istovremeno užasavajuće, ali odlično izvedeno. I ovo je potpuno bez dijaloga, "pročita" se za 5 minuta, a ostavlja neopisiv utisak.
January 16, 2016
This short graphic novel can be read in less than 15 minutes. Its lack of dialogues makes the black and white images even more powerful than they already are. It consists of 5 stories, each exceptional and creepy in its own way. For a fan of The Twilight Zone like me, this graphic novel is like Christmas time.
November 27, 2021
The horror!
I am IMPRESSED.
I am IMPRESSED.
October 3, 2014
п'ять історій (одна з яких обрамлення) різного рівня моторошності, сюрреалістичності та чорногуморності, – однак, попри різні пропорції складників, усі вони неодмінно потужні. вкрай приємний макабр.
May 24, 2015
I don't have much to say about this one, other than the first short story; the hotel, was absolutely brilliant and hilarious. I loved the ending, brilliant! The rest to be honest were pretty average. But The Hotel made up for it.
May 28, 2025
Hikayeleri, çizimleri ve sunumuyla gerçek bir başyapıt.
March 12, 2023
En una feria siniestra, una niña encuentra un cuarto con cinco pantallas que le muestran historias. Un hombre llega a un hotel completamente vacío, y disfruta de un manjar que no se sabe quién le sirvió. La muerte, a la que nadie puede vencer, desafía a un luchador mexicano en el ring. Un médico proporciona un tratamiento experimental a su paciente, con resultados cuestionables. Un linyera, convencido por indicios que parece encontrar en la basura, profetiza el fin del mundo, y es vapuleado. En una feria siniestra, una niña está parada ante cinco pantallas.
Todas estas historias las cuenta Thomas Ott casi sin usar palabras. O casi, porque sí pueden verse algunas como parte del decorado (carteles, letreros, alguna nota escrita a mano), pero no hay globos de diálogo ni burbujas de pensamiento. Podemos ver, pero no podemos escuchar.
Característica de Ott es la maestría en el uso del esgrafiado, o carte à grattier. Esta es una técnica que la mayoría de nosotros aprendimos de niños, pero que en ese entonces usábamos para trazar burdos arcoíris y no para ilustrar nuestras pesadillas más profundas.
Al final del libro, hay una dedicatoria a los padres de Ott que no sé cómo interpretar. Teniendo en cuenta las historias e imágenes que la preceden, tiendo a leer “por su amoroso apoyo” como una ironía. Pero quizás verdaderamente el autor creció en un entorno saludable, con unos padres que lo querían, y pasó una infancia nada perturbadora. Quizás las imágenes espantosas que llenan sus libros simplemente se le aparecen, como a la nena de la feria.
Todas estas historias las cuenta Thomas Ott casi sin usar palabras. O casi, porque sí pueden verse algunas como parte del decorado (carteles, letreros, alguna nota escrita a mano), pero no hay globos de diálogo ni burbujas de pensamiento. Podemos ver, pero no podemos escuchar.
Característica de Ott es la maestría en el uso del esgrafiado, o carte à grattier. Esta es una técnica que la mayoría de nosotros aprendimos de niños, pero que en ese entonces usábamos para trazar burdos arcoíris y no para ilustrar nuestras pesadillas más profundas.
Al final del libro, hay una dedicatoria a los padres de Ott que no sé cómo interpretar. Teniendo en cuenta las historias e imágenes que la preceden, tiendo a leer “por su amoroso apoyo” como una ironía. Pero quizás verdaderamente el autor creció en un entorno saludable, con unos padres que lo querían, y pasó una infancia nada perturbadora. Quizás las imágenes espantosas que llenan sus libros simplemente se le aparecen, como a la nena de la feria.
March 2, 2024
Kelimeleri kullanmadan garip şeyler anlatma sanatının önde gideni, bayrak tutanı Thomas Ott abimiz bu kitapta yine sevdiği kısa hikayelerini tek bir kurgu içinde bize satıyor.
Cebindeki bozuklukları ile lunaparkta hiç bir zırzavata binemeyen kızımız, mekanın kenar köşesinde kalmış bir sinema çadırını keşfeder ve başlar bozuklukları ile makineleri çalıştırmaya.
Thomas Ott tarzını bilenler ve sevenler için bulunmaz nimet.
Türkçe baskısı (sanki içinde bir diyalog varmış gibi) mahallemizin cool abisi Flaneur'den 2010'ların başında limitli olarak çıktı. Olur da bir yerlerde denk gelirseniz ikinci el fiyatına küfretmeden önce bilin ki çeyrek altından, bitcoinden, dolardan daha hızlı yükseliyor.
Türkiye için çok alıcısı olabilecek bir kitap değil ama neyse ki benim gibi "freak" şeyleri okumayı sevenler de az değil.
Cebindeki bozuklukları ile lunaparkta hiç bir zırzavata binemeyen kızımız, mekanın kenar köşesinde kalmış bir sinema çadırını keşfeder ve başlar bozuklukları ile makineleri çalıştırmaya.
Thomas Ott tarzını bilenler ve sevenler için bulunmaz nimet.
Türkçe baskısı (sanki içinde bir diyalog varmış gibi) mahallemizin cool abisi Flaneur'den 2010'ların başında limitli olarak çıktı. Olur da bir yerlerde denk gelirseniz ikinci el fiyatına küfretmeden önce bilin ki çeyrek altından, bitcoinden, dolardan daha hızlı yükseliyor.
Türkiye için çok alıcısı olabilecek bir kitap değil ama neyse ki benim gibi "freak" şeyleri okumayı sevenler de az değil.
May 3, 2020
4,5 estrellas.
Esta novela gráfica es muda, no hay bocadillos de diálogos. Se basa en cuatro historias cortas, todas me han gustado bastante, quizá la primera la que más. Las ilustraciones son originales y expresivas, con una técnica que parece grabado y eso les da una cualidad atemporal que le va muy bien a la historia. Los relatos son oscuros y ligeramente macabros y es una maravilla de leer.
Esta novela gráfica es muda, no hay bocadillos de diálogos. Se basa en cuatro historias cortas, todas me han gustado bastante, quizá la primera la que más. Las ilustraciones son originales y expresivas, con una técnica que parece grabado y eso les da una cualidad atemporal que le va muy bien a la historia. Los relatos son oscuros y ligeramente macabros y es una maravilla de leer.
June 16, 2022
Voto effettivo: 3,5 su 5.
Graphic novel wordless di grande impatto visivo, la cupezza del bianco e del nero contribuisce a rendere i personaggi molto espressivi e associata a queste brevi storie da brivido dà vita a una combinazione niente male.
Graphic novel wordless di grande impatto visivo, la cupezza del bianco e del nero contribuisce a rendere i personaggi molto espressivi e associata a queste brevi storie da brivido dà vita a una combinazione niente male.
February 19, 2017
Another amazing graphic novel.. Thank you goodreads for the suggestion
June 19, 2018
Велико е това! Мирише на тежки плюшени завеси (леко прашни) и на стари книги, и на прожекционен апарат, от който се донасят пращения и необясними звуци. Радост за окото и въображението!
August 26, 2015
What a perfectly put-together book. A girl wanders through a fair looking for amusement but finds she doesn't have enough money to enjoy any of its novelties until she happens across an empty booth. "Cinema Panopticum" is part of the fair and yet stands alone and takes the girl away from the mundane into the horrific. There are five little machines, like games in an arcade, but each machine plays a terrifying little movie and she has just enough coins to watch each one, almost as if this encounter were fated, and by the end of the book her fate does seem to be entwined with these films, even if only for this brief span of time. Great storytelling, great black and white "scratchboard style" artwork.
July 25, 2024
Thomas Ott is a genius, and this work is yet another testament to his talent.
How can simplicity be so effective? He makes it seem effortless, but it’s anything but.
While his illustrations are mesmerizing, you can’t linger too long on a single panel. Once the narrative kicks in, you’ll find yourself eagerly flipping to the next page to see what happens next.
For a story with minimal text, his ability to captivate is superb.
The tale is creepy and eerie, reminiscent of an episode of The Twilight Zone.
How can simplicity be so effective? He makes it seem effortless, but it’s anything but.
While his illustrations are mesmerizing, you can’t linger too long on a single panel. Once the narrative kicks in, you’ll find yourself eagerly flipping to the next page to see what happens next.
For a story with minimal text, his ability to captivate is superb.
The tale is creepy and eerie, reminiscent of an episode of The Twilight Zone.
November 3, 2016
I liked Thomas Ott's artwork. The high contrast black and white images, highly detailed and expressive, render the surreal, dark and twisted atmosphere perfectly. His framing is brilliant too.
Cinema Panopticum consists of five surreal, Kafkaesque stories. The first story was absolutely brilliant.
Cinema Panopticum consists of five surreal, Kafkaesque stories. The first story was absolutely brilliant.
December 26, 2020
Ott is a fucking master. Great stories that are horrifying with a slight comedic touch, all ramping up until the final conclusion. This book rules and everyone who likes horror should pick it up.
Read
October 23, 2024تحفة فنية، مرعبة، ولا تنسى..
May 16, 2025
I think I found a new favorite author/graphic artist. He reminded me of Shaun Tan, but make it a million times darker.
The imagination and the darkness and all the meanings conveyed in these black and white wordless stories were just breathtaking. It starts with a girl not finding anything to play in the carnival since she doesn't have enough money, then she finds these projectors or little cinemas that each has a title and a price that fits the money she has, and oh boy, each story is wilder than the one before.
it left me at the edge of my seat! I wanted to know what she saw in the end. (maybe it was a bad premonition?)
anyway, I'm on my way now to read everything by Thomas Ott!
The imagination and the darkness and all the meanings conveyed in these black and white wordless stories were just breathtaking. It starts with a girl not finding anything to play in the carnival since she doesn't have enough money, then she finds these projectors or little cinemas that each has a title and a price that fits the money she has, and oh boy, each story is wilder than the one before.
it left me at the edge of my seat! I wanted to know what she saw in the end. (maybe it was a bad premonition?)
anyway, I'm on my way now to read everything by Thomas Ott!
September 4, 2024
First time read swiss artist Thoma Ott's work, and became a fan.
i came to read this one as the cover caught my eyes, very much like Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Following my impulse was worth it, his art style was interesting, so was his wordless storytelling in a graphic novel.
Cinema Panopticum is an anthology of 4 unsettling stories; or 5, because it all 'comes around'. The Hotel, The Champion, The Experiment, The Prophet. A girl, the protagonist, watches these stories in a bioscope arcade, one-by-one, and we witness some scattered peculear stories. At the end, re-reading the graphic novel from the beginning is a must!
Looking forward to reading more of Thomas Ott.
i came to read this one as the cover caught my eyes, very much like Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Following my impulse was worth it, his art style was interesting, so was his wordless storytelling in a graphic novel.
Cinema Panopticum is an anthology of 4 unsettling stories; or 5, because it all 'comes around'. The Hotel, The Champion, The Experiment, The Prophet. A girl, the protagonist, watches these stories in a bioscope arcade, one-by-one, and we witness some scattered peculear stories. At the end, re-reading the graphic novel from the beginning is a must!
Looking forward to reading more of Thomas Ott.
July 11, 2024
A little girl visits a fair where she can’t seem to afford any attractions until she sees a cinema 🎦 where she gets to experience some terrifying tales . Short and nightmarish with shades of Kafka.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 205 reviews