The System

It's said that the flutter of insect wings in the Indian Ocean can send a hurricane crashing against the shores of the American Northeast. It's this premise that lies at the core of The System, a wordless graphic novel created and fully painted by award-winning illustrator Peter Kuper. From the subway system to the solar system, human lives are linked by an endless array of interconnecting threads. Told without captions or dialogue, The System is an astonishing progression of vivid imagery.

"A dark, dense, subtle portrait of the intricate continuum of urban life--and death--done in such bold strokes and shapes that you will never see the city in the same way again." --Kirkpatrick Sale, author, "After Eden: The Evolution of Human Domination"

"Like a slow-motion footage of a .45 slug drifting through a gun barrel, Peter Kuper's "The System" gives urban tragedy an almost graceful inevitability. [It] intertwines the lives of several instantly identifiable New York City archetypes . . . into a dreamily suspenseful tale of corruption and ambition [...] utilizing his signature color-stencil-art style to depict a class-conscious saga superior in depth and emotion to a year's stockpile of the New York Post." --Robert Morales, "Vibe"

"Though it has no word balloons or thought bubbles, "The System" is filled with so much urban clatter, you'll want to seal your windows shut. Kuper uses his trademark spray-paint/stencil art to send us careening through a kinetic New York landscape, jump-cutting from a crooked cop to a stripper, panning from a homeless guy to a cell-phone yuppie. The star of the story is the dark city itself, and the point is how money ties all its occupants--whether they know it or not--together." --Gavin Edwards, "Details"

"This is our world, folks, as it exists right now, teetering on the brink of something we can't quite imagine, laid out by Peter Kuper as a flow chart of parallels and coincidences and connecting fibers so powerful and occult that a pin dropped in a back street creates shock waves that make skyscrapers tremble." --Luc Sante, author, "Low Life"

"Kuper's brilliant visual novel, much like Fritz Lang, creates a comic noir of corruption and innocence in a city where the devil is always in the details." --Sue Coe, artist and author, "Dead Meat""This is obviously the definitive version of this book, and I'd point any reader curious about Kuper's career to this book first and foremost." --Rob Clough, highlowcomics.blogspot.com"In The System, Kuper uses his wood cut style -- here in a beautiful color realization -- to document New York City as a collection of interconnected organisms, as a living creature on the landscape." --John Seven, vknid.com

Kuper s brilliant visual novel, much like Fritz Lang, creates a comic noir of corruption and innocence in a city where the devil is always in the details. Sue Coe, artist and author, "Dead Meat" "This is obviously the definitive version of this book, and I'd point any reader curious about Kuper's career to this book first and foremost." Rob Clough, highlowcomics.blogspot.com "In The System, Kuper uses his wood cut style here in a beautiful color realization to document New York City as a collection of interconnected organisms, as a living creature on the landscape." John Seven, vknid.com

A dark, dense, subtle portrait of the intricate continuum of urban life and death done in such bold strokes and shapes that you will never see the city in the same way again. Kirkpatrick Sale, author, "After Eden: The Evolution of Human Domination""

Like a slow-motion footage of a .45 slug drifting through a gun barrel, Peter Kuper s "The System" gives urban tragedy an almost graceful inevitability.[It] intertwines the lives of several instantly identifiable New York City archetypes . . . into a dreamily suspenseful tale of corruption and ambition [...] utilizing his signature color-stencil-art style to depict a class-conscious saga superior in depth and emotion to a year s stockpile of the New York Post. Robert Morales, "Vibe""

Though it has no word balloons or thought bubbles, "The System" is filled with so much urban clatter, you ll want to seal your windows shut. Kuper uses his trademark spray-paint/stencil art to send us careening through a kinetic New York landscape, jump-cutting from a crooked cop to a stripper, panning from a homeless guy to a cell-phone yuppie. The star of the story is the dark city itself, and the point is how money ties all its occupants whether they know it or not together. Gavin Edwards, "Details""

This is our world, folks, as it exists right now, teetering on the brink of something we can t quite imagine, laid out by Peter Kuper as a flow chart of parallels and coincidences and connecting fibers so powerful and occult that a pin dropped in a back street creates shock waves that make skyscrapers tremble. Luc Sante, author, "Low Life""

"Cartooning is an art that can be universally recognized and appreciated. The purest of this form is the wordless comic, where the cartoonist creates a strictly visual language. Over the years there have been a few geniuses in this specialized art form. One of them is Peter Kuper. Long may his pencil, pen and brush silently flow." Al Jaffe, "Mad""

""The System" is a beautifully-illustrated hardcover book. This is no normal graphic novel, really a work of art in publishing." Zach Roberts, comicbook.com"

"From the day-to-day laboratory of conflicts and coincidences, Kuper assembled "The System," a wordless chronicle of the clashes and convergences of New York City s populace." Peggy Roalf, "DART""

"Clever, compulsive and breathtakingly engrossing, this delicious exercise in dramatic interconnectivity and carefully constructed symbolism is a brilliant example of how smart and powerful comics can be." Win Wiacek, comicsreview.co.uk"

"Although told with a relative lack of text, "The System" has the heft of a literary novel and should be embraced by both comics fans and open-minded readers of literary fiction." Thomas L. Batten, "Library Journal""