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Tale of One Bad Rat (2nd edition) Kindle & comiXology

by Bryan Talbot (Author), Various (Illustrator) Format: Kindle Edition
4.9 4.9 out of 5 stars 18 ratings
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Helen Potter lived a happy life until she got lost in a nightmare of sexual abuse. Now she's on a journey, a journey which takes her through urban and rural England along the same path that another Potter, Beatrix Potter, once took. Across the decades, two lives touch, and Helen discovers that the strength of two is far greater than one.

Bryan Talbot constructs a very special story in The Tale of One Bad Rat which immediately endears the reader. The victim of child sexual abuse, Helen Potter becomes the armored knight before her own personal demons in this story of heroism and courage.
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  1. Part of Series
    Tale of One Bad Rat
  2. Print length
    136 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    Not Enabled
  5. Publisher
    Dark Horse Books
  6. Publication date
    March 7, 1995
  7. File size
    128422 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Not Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Not Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
    Not Enabled
  11. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00DUKCHZI
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dark Horse Books; 2nd edition (March 7, 1995)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 7, 1995
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 128422 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Not enabled
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 136 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.9 4.9 out of 5 stars 18 ratings

Customer reviews

4.9 out of 5 stars
4.9 out of 5
18 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Octavia Randolph
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully rendered...
Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2017
Verified Purchase
Exceptionally expressive artwork relating a story of courage, and the healing power of art and nature. Beatrix Potter fans will especially be delighted.
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One More Option
5.0 out of 5 stars Bryan Talbot's A Tale Of One Bad Rat Graphic Novel Review
Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2010
The graphic novel "The Tale Of One Bad Rat" by Bryan Talbot is an Eisner Award winning story about Helen Potter, a woman who was sexually abused by her father for 8 years while she was a child and teenager.

The current second edition has excellent hardcover design, paper quality, and illustration color reproduction. The graphic novel, a story in 3 parts, was originally published in four individual comic books. I enjoyed having the whole story in one professionally crafted volume.

I'm not a person who writes many reviews. I don't enjoy writing reviews for the sake of writing reviews. I tend to only take the time to write reviews when I estimate I've found a great artwork that may be underrecognized or underappreciated in some way. I'm not alone in admiring this graphic novel. I was initially introduced to this book because it was recommended by both Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore.

This is an exquisitely well-thought out story. And Bryan Talbot is a master storyteller, writer, imagist, and draftsperson. His linework, line weight, and drawing abilities leave me with firm rememberances. His ability to paint and color is comparable to Milo Manara - and I mean that as a high compliment. His colors support a concert of details used to set compelling and accurate emotional atmospheres. Talbot doesn't just lay down flat colors. In studying his illustrations, you can see the care of every color weight, stroke direction, and visual texture.

The story begins with Helen living on the streets after running away from home. The story arcs through her beginning processes of recognizing she was sexually abused and trying to understand the harm the abuse did to her. The story is about trying to recover from incest by taking dramatic and active steps to repair what can be rebuilt. Helen reads many self-help books about child abuse and incest, she separates from her abuser, and she eventually confronts him.

Many of Helen's dialogues and thoughts are taken from research Talbot did after reading many books about sexual abuse of children and interviews of sexually abused women from many different countries. The story intimates the famous author (Helen) Beatrix Potter may have suffered from similar abuses as a young woman. And the story parallels similar steps and locations both Ms. Potter's took to separate from their fathers to become self-defining and self-reliant individuals.

This book was created to bring more attention to addressing the serious and common problems of sexual abuse: "It's been estimated that one in three girls will be molested before they're eighteen. Approximately 90 percent of that abuse is committed, not by the stereotypical stranger in the raincoat, haunter of the schoolgates, but by a close, male relative."

The story appears to have been written to emphasize that sexual abuse victims commonly take on the self-perception they are bad - even when bad things have primarly been done to them. Some children who experience incest may believe their parents must be good, and they make an incorrect reasoning progression and assume they must be a cause of their parent's bad behavior. Also, sexually abusive parents often verbally and emotionally abuse their child, communicating they are ugly, unpopular, or unlikable. This can lead a child to self-loathing, a misperception they are a bad rat - when they are not.

The story champions the concept of judging individuals by their individual actions and not by their stereotype. Helen literally has a pet rat she rescued from being dissected at her high school. And later in the story, she has an imaginary friend who is a rat, with whom she discusses, vents, and works out her problems. She researches and discovers for herself many good qualities about vilified rats. The "rat" exploration and theme is a fascinating juxtaposition in a story that also focuses on the misbehaviors of men - who would ironically often be referred to as "rats" for their incestuous behavior. Talbot appears to be emphasizing the distinction between reality and appearances, emphasizing compassion for literal rats who are well-behaved social creatures and disdain for figurative "rats" who are ill-behaved social creatures. The book's title can be easily interpreted to infer not all rats are bad.

Helen used art, creativity, and storytelling, like Beatrix Potter likely did, to address the difficult problems she was facing but did not feel able to discuss or face directly or publicly. Our art is often our heart on our sleeves, and sometimes artists use allegory and metaphor to address serious problems, problems they don't feel safe or proper discussing openly or directly. Sometimes they draw what they cannot say or communicate through words.

Talbot does a masterful job of drawing, painting, and writing many things that need to be communicated openly, directly, and often.
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Surferofromantica
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended
Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2017
Published in 1994, it's hard to believe that this book is as old as it is!! The tale is difficult, mature, and the art is stunningly beautiful. A homeless girl in London, a runaway from a sexually abusive father, Helen lives a fantasy life through the books of Beatrix Potter. When her runaway life becomes too hot to handle in London, she runs even further away - to the Lake Country, where she finds a place of her own, redemption, and happiness.

At the end of the book, there are a few pages from creator Bryan Talbot explaining how he came up with the story, and how he put it together. It was a bit of a letdown, in a way, to have a few illusions burst about how this story came about, but probably in a good way because it's important to know the whole situation. Either way, kudos all around.

An amazing, humbling tale, and highly recommended.
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Sam Quixote
5.0 out of 5 stars The tale of one brave girl
Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2010
A 16 year old girl called Helen Potter leaves home, running from an abusive father and a mother who doesn't care. She finds herself begging on the streets of London and, along with her pet rat and a bag full of Beatrix Potter books, she begins a journey similar to Potter's out of her horrible situation into a place where she is safe and happy both in mind and body.

Bryan Talbot does a fantastic job depicting the horrors of street life in London. The sprawl, the crazies who are out there preying on the young and vulnerable, and those who would help them, namely those in similar circumstances albeit somewhat older. Talbot also deals with the issue of abuse delicately and yet brutally as well. We see the circumstances in which it happened and how it affected Helen. The psychological damage it does to a young mind is written clearly and honestly so those who haven't been abused (eg. me) could follow and begin to understand the victim's feelings.

Talbot also throws out facts about rats and their history, as well as the life story of Beatrix Potter. Helen's journey takes her to the Lake District which was Potter's home for many years and he draws absolutely stunning landscapes of the area. He also puts together a Beatrix Potter-esque story at the end of the book "written" by Helen. The artwork throughout is brilliant with Talbot opting for the first time to use human models to draw from to add an extra dimension of reality to the story.

Why this is labelled "Young Adult" is insulting as anyone should be able to read this without being put off that it might be "childish". It's a searingly honest look at a taboo issue in our society and deserves a wider audience than simply "young adults".

A brilliant and moving comic book from one of the masters of the medium, Bryan Talbot's "The Tale of One Bad Rat" is an utterly engrossing and wonderful read. Highly recommended.
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