In the graphic novel Amadeo & Maladeo, the aristocratic Amadeo begins his musical career playing violin for the King and Queen of Austria, while his penurious, illegitimate brother Maladeo plays violin for pocket change on a street corner. Both face the trials and tribulations of fame. Amadeo and Maladeo serves as an elegant and unvarnished metaphor for the hardships contemporary artists face and that appears to be a universal condition of civilization. Drawn in Blechmanâe(tm)s expressive, patented âeoewavy lineâe pen-and-ink style, Amadeo & Maladeo is a story made powerful and moving by its gentle telling.
