Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant

by Tony Cliff

Paperback, 2013

Status

Available

Call number

741.5973

Publication

First Second (2013), Paperback, 176 pages

Description

"Lovable ne'er-do-well Delilah Dirk is an Indiana Jones for the 19th century. She has traveled to Japan, Indonesia, France, and even the New World. Using the skills she's picked up on the way, Delilah's adventures continue as she plots to rob a rich and corrupt Sultan in Constantinople. With the aid of her flying boat and her newfound friend, Selim, she evades the Sultan's guards, leaves angry pirates in the dust, and fights her way through the countryside. For Delilah, one adventure leads to the next in this thrilling and funny installment in her exciting life" -- from publisher's web site.

User reviews

LibraryThing member zzshupinga

Delilah Dirk has traveled all across the world-Japan, Indonesia, France, even the New World! Delilah is always seeking a new adventure, and her latest has taken her to Constantinople to...relieve the Sultan of certain choice artifacts. While making her escape she picks up a new partner, a Turkish

Lieutenant named Selim, who somehow fell onto the wrong side of the Sultan and it isn't Delilah's fault at all! Nope, nothing of the sort...mostly. Together they'll head off on Delilah's flying boat onto new adventures and see what waits for them.

One of the great things for me about reading a new graphic novel is finding one that has a strong female character, and that's what we have here. Delilah is a well rounded character that acts like a real person! Imagine that! A female character that doesn't have to have a man save her. Shocking I know. Seriously though, Delilah is kinda of a female Indiana Jones. She goes around the world, has adventures, and while she may like company she doesn't need it. Selim on the other hand is the exact opposite, at least when we first meet him. He'd rather enjoy the simple things in life, like a good cup of tea, and just do his job. But together these two characters have great adventures and both are the better for it. And get this...they don't have a romance! Tony Cliff goes against all "normal" stereotypes to create a fantastic story, with memorable characters. This is just such a fun enjoyable read, I can't believe that I missed it when Tony first started publishing it as a webcomic, but man am I glad to have it now. It's one that I'll enjoy reading again and again.

Tony's artwork is flat out gorgeous. I'm not sure what Tony uses to create his artwork, but it's lush, detailed, and beautiful. I mean each and every page feels like something that could be hung up on the wall as art and you wouldn't get tired of looking at it. The colors are beautiful and the expressive faces just bring the characters to life. The action sequences are some of my favorites, especially when they're on the old stone bridge trying not to get blown up. The way the rubble falls, the smoke, the characters expressions...fantastic. I can't wait to see more of Tony's art.

This is a great book and I'd recommend it for teen readers and up. I can't wait to see if we get more of Delilah and Selim (one can hope.) I give the book 5 out of 5 stars.

ARC provided by Gina at FirstSecond

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LibraryThing member scote23

Is it horrible that, even though I loved the storyline, I could not get over the fact that the strong female character has a keyhole cleavage cutout? What is the point of that? How does it. Help. Her do anything? I don't even think it is historically accurate. It distracted me from what I would

consider otherwise a very engaging tale.

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LibraryThing member jen.e.moore

An utterly delightful romp; I want a million more books of their adventures.

LibraryThing member TheMadHatters

What a fun graphic novel! The pictures are awesome and the story is so much fun! I hope there is more to come.

LibraryThing member GR8inD8N

Definitely a teen graphic novel. adventurous and fast paced. happy for a girl protagonist. sad that she has to wear such an impractical outfit to fight others in. engaging storyline and characters. two curse words.

LibraryThing member blurble

Clean, slightly comic art with wonderful colors and excellent backgrounds. An improbable victorian adventuress meets up with a turkish lieutenant who's very good at making tea. Awesomeness ensues.

LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill

The artwork in this adventure story is just amazing. The chase sequences and fight scenes are totally gorgeous. I love the gorgeous colors. The story is definitely transitional as the Lieutenant and Delilah are just starting out together. I'm very excited about future adventures.

LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill

LibraryThing member RealLifeReading

Such a pleasure to read

LibraryThing member nonesuch42

I had read the webcomic first chapter or so posted on the author's website. It was exciting and fun and I was very happy to receive the book for Christmas. I knew it would be quick to read, and it is. But it had a nice completeness. Not that I would reject a sequel. But it was a complete story for

being so short. For all that it's Delilah Dirk's name on the cover, this is not her origin story. It's the origin story of the Turkish Lieutenant. How he goes from being a normal soldier with a love for tea into an adventuring hero, with a love for tea. It is fantastic and legendary, but also funny and infused with historical and realistic details. There were a couple parts where the story got a little confusing, or the art was hard to follow. But overall I enjoyed the story and the art.

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LibraryThing member emeraldreverie

It was a fun adventure story. I liked the second installment better, I feel. This one struck me as isn't it lucky there's a man around to tell this woman's story? But the art was distinctive and the colors were good.

LibraryThing member Pencils

The opening episodes of an adventure tale, in which we meet our intrepid heroine and her reliable sidekick, and find out how they came to be adventuring together. I love the fidelity to classic adventure - Delilah Dirk is almost too perfect to be true, in the manner of all proper adventure heroes.

Selim complains about all the action but loves it (as a sidekick and faithful narrator would do) and there is a lovely proper scary crime lord for them to thwart. I wish there had been a bit more meat to the story, but if I think of it as a gentle introduction to the characters it's less disappointing. Looking forward to the next instalment!

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LibraryThing member ticky

A delightfully charming and cute story! I look forward to the next volume!

LibraryThing member bookbrig

Great art and I LOVED Delilah. I just think the story would have been more engaging had it been from her perspective, rather than being told from her new buddy's point of view.

LibraryThing member bobbybslax

Fast, funny, and beautiful, Delilah Dirk is a comforting book to brighten any day.

LibraryThing member LibroLindsay

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Kick ass female protagonist, perfectly paced, hilarious, beautiful coloring.

LibraryThing member books-n-pickles

A fun read from work! I'd actually heard about it before and was excited to see it in the lending library. Bit quick-paced for me but I've been horribly spoiled with the epic (and complete) Sandman. Perhaps I'll wait on Delilah's sequel until there's an omnibus--this was an incredibly quick read,

even with my read-once-read/admire-twice custom for graphic novels. Delilah did seem a bit like a Mary Sue, a bit too perfect at everything, but at least she also had her moments of weakness in the face of severe obstacles. Wonder if she'll face down her foe in a future book.

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LibraryThing member ShellyS

There's not much story in this, but that's okay. Sallim, the titular lieutenant, doesn't realize how much his life will change when he runs off with devil-may-care Delilah Dirk, a young woman not opposed to some smuggling and thievery. An entertaining romp, and the art is lovely.

LibraryThing member nilaffle

A fun adventure story. I'll admit that I'm a little bothered by the imperialistic undertone of the story (I hear it's billed as a female Indiana Jones, which doesn't help at all). Delilah Dirk is a Greek-English woman who has traveled all over the world with her ambassador father. She grew up

learning helpful survival skills from many non-western cultures, only to turn around and wreak havoc on many more non-western cultures. And now she's in Turkey, killing soldiers, blowing things up, and generally causing a mess as she picks up a charming new companion, the capable Mr. Selim. The characters are fun, but that doesn't cancel out the tired premise of "irresponsible white hero gallivanting around foreign lands with wild abandon."

All right, I've got that off my chest, so let me reiterate that it's a fun read. The dialogue is snappy and full of character, and it's amusing to see Dirk and Selim's (somewhat) carefully laid plans go awry at every turn. And aside from the sexist, bloodthirsty sultan at the start, many of the characters they encounter throughout the book are equally charming.

The art is beautiful - that's the only way I can put it. Every panel is masterful. There's a noticeable difference in style between the opening and the later chapters - not a change in quality, but it's clear Cliff changed his approach to his characters. It makes me wonder how much time lapsed between those chapters. The back flap indicates that the entire book took five years to create, which is quite a lot of work, indeed!

I'm already on book two (Delilah Dirk and the King's Shilling), which I'm enjoying more than the first.

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LibraryThing member bobbybslax

Fast, funny, and beautiful, Delilah Dirk is a comforting book to brighten any day.

LibraryThing member krau0098

This is the first volume in the Delilah Dirk series. This was a very fun and fast-paced fantasy graphic novel read. There is a lot of action, adventure, and humor in here and I thoroughly enjoyed the story.

The story is told from Selim’s point of view. He gets caught up in Delilah’s adventures

and is at first reluctant to join in. Over time though Delilah wins him over with her crazy antics and carefree attitude.

This was a very well done graphic novel, the illustration is very well done and easy to follow. This is just pure fun to read and I enjoyed it a ton.

Overall this is a wonderful graphic novel; it was beautifully illustrated, loads of fun, and fast-paced. I would recommend to those who love fantasy graphic novel full of adventure and humor.

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LibraryThing member lilibrarian

Delilah Dirk is an adventuress - and a thief. Following a botched operation in Constantinople, she saves the life of Selim, who joins her, hesitantly, on her adventures.

LibraryThing member TheArtOfPrin

This is the first book of the Delilah Dirk series. For some reason to me, it seemed it was very focus on establishing the world that we’re in more than on tons of character development. I wish there was more exploration in Delilah’s character besides all her adventures. But I get the sense,

she’s suppose to leave that mystery to reveal more about her past as this series progresses.

There’s more of a focus on her new sidekick Mr. Selim and his struggle to stay along side her. Again, could have been executed better.

Otherwise, I like the art. I think this first book could have been longer and we could see more panels on the back and forth our main protagonists to see how their relationship grew closer.

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