I'm not been one for graphic novels, as a rule, but other people's enthusiasm always influences me so, prompted by publisher Dan Franklin who champions this genre, I've taken a look at a few of the creative releases in the past year. I was particularly taken by this title from the publisher Self Made Hero, about the artist Diego Rivera.

Having watched the film 'Frida' I've been intrigued by the life and work of this extraordinary woman. My interest in her husband was less impassioned based on her comment 'There have been two great accidents in my life...Diego was by far the worst'.

This book tells the story of Diego in his relationship with Frida but much more. It is grim in parts but it's also fascinating and enlightening.

Every page is rich and heavy with illustration sometimes like cartoons, sometimes beautiful and intricate, always in keeping with the characters whose lives and works are being represented.

Rivera created murals in his native Mexico and the USA. He was commissioned by Henry Ford and John D. Rockefeller, though he met Lenin, Stalin and Trotsky. He had hundreds of lovers and four wives – including Frida Kahlo.

This is a powerful and mesmerising book which provides an excellent way in to the turbulent life and times of this artist.