August 2006 Comics
My quick comments on this month’s shipment from Mile High Comics, as well as a few items direct from the publishers:
Concrete Vol. 6: Strange Armor by Paul Chadwick (Dark Horse): The last volume to be published in this uniform Concrete collected edition (though not the last sequentially which is the excellent Human Dilemma) retells Concrete’s origin story in a new and improved way, though in the end, it is not as good as most of the volumes. It looks like it was originally in color and is here reprinted in grayscale, which gives it an odd, incongruous look (incongruous with the rest of the books, that is). One of these days I’ll do a complete reread review of Concrete, which, while formally conventional, is thematically rich and an entertaining read.
Finder Volume 8: Five Crazy Women by Carla Speed McNeil (Lightspeed Press): See my review.
The Building Opposite by Vanyda (Fanfare/Ponent Mon): A French comic influenced by manga (a kind of OFL (original French language) manga) mostly in its drawing style rather than layout and breakdowns. The chapters (originally serialized) tell stories of the residents of a small apartment building. The three couples (young lovers, older husband and wife, single mother and child) slowly begin to interact over the course of the book. Mostly we see small interactions and conversations centered in or around the building. The drawing is teetering on the edge of amateurish and occasionally falls off that edge. The story also teeters on the edge of the everyday, not telling extraordinary events but neither does it really delve into the nuances and repetitions of the everyday. It ends up being a little boring.
The Comic Journal 277 (Fantagraphics): The 30th anniversary issue is packed with short interviews (so much nicer than the often epic, sleep inducing interviews they usually publish) with a great selection of artists and publishers. The talk with L’Association publisher J.C. Menu is a highlight (he even talks a bit about the oubapo). The interview with R Kikuo Johnson has turned my opinion of him around (I did not like The Night Fisher and from all appearances it will be the least of his works). A large section of the issue reprints an early graphic novel “It Rhymes with Lust” from 1950, which is of interest more as a historical object than something to read (I made it about halfway through before giving up in boredom). A lot of articles on the history of the direct market and the comics boom and bust of the nineties which I’ve not worked up the interest to read.
Walt and Skeezix Volume 2 by Frank King (Drawn and Quarterly): I’m working my way through this now, two more years of Gasoline Alley from the early twenties. The first volume was getting really good by the end (when the endless car gags were becoming rarer). Another beautiful reprint volume, though I find all the extra front material (lots of old photos) kind of boring. I’m just not that interested in the cartoonist’s life. I’d rather read discussion of the comic itself. The 80% scale reproduction of a strip that takes up almost the whole inside of the dustcover shows us how much we are missing by the small scale of reproduction. Occasionally the reproductions here (particularly the blacks) are spotty.
Sloth by Gilbert Hernandez (DC/Vertigo): I’ve heard this compared to David Lynch and it’s not altogether inapt. Hernandez’s story features the dreamlike atmosphere and abrupt narrative shifting of Lost Highways or Mulholland Drive, but where Lynch is rich with symbolism and lush visual detail (well, I hate Lost Highways, but that’s another story) Hernandez’s globby/scratchy artwork just doesn’t convey that sense, nor does his rather flat story. Sure, the latter part of the book comes as a surprise, but I don’t see the payoff. I knew I should have just stuck with reading Jaime’s work.
Monologues for the Coming Plague by Anders Nilsen (Fantagraphics): Hmm. This one is odd. I don’t think it makes any real sense. Lots of simply drawn characters saying stuff: scribbly head guy, birds and an old woman, a guy talking to his dog about finding a job. Is it a single work? A collection of shorter works? Characters repeat (or at least they look the same), but connections are few. I think I feel kind of ripped off by this with its single image per page (and those very sparse) and nonsense… Does anyone get this? I feel like a need to find someone who could explain why it would be good, because I want it to be good, but…
Tags: Comics, comic_strips, Reviews
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