All PostsMister I by Lewis Trondheim. Bries, 2005. 32 p. (NBM has an edition forthcoming.)
I picked up Mister I from the Bries table at MOCCA. Trondheim here offers a variation on his book of variations, Mister O (my review).
Mister I looks like a pickle with arms, legs, and a face. He is hungry, and when he finds food he’ll do whatever he can to satiate his desire. Unfortunately, through the course of 30 attempts he fails every time, dying in the process. Like Mister O, this book is a series of one page, sixty panel variations on a similar story, drawn in an extremely simple style.
Beyond the change in subject there is little to say by way of its difference from Mister O.
One thing I did notice in this volume is the flipbook nature of the panels. The gutterless juxtaposition of the panels combined with the moment-to-moment transitions in each panel create an animated reading. I found myself reading the pages with a jerky jump from panel to panel with a steady beat. The minimal drawings aid in the easy movement; one’s eye is not slowed looking at details or taking in aesthetics.