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Acme Novelty Library #16
Sample Page 1 Four years in the making, the latest issue of Chris Ware's masterpiece provides more of the same claustrophobic storytelling that Ware pioneered in Jimmy Corrigan. In this 64 page, full color hardback, Ware continues his exploration of pathetic, miserable characters living out quiet lives of desperation. This time Ware delves deeper into his occasional strip characters Rusty Brown and Chalky White, offering portraits of their troubled childhoods and chronicling their first meeting in rural Nebraska. While much of the visual presentation will appear familiar to Ware’s fans, perhaps the most notable stylistic highlight is Ware's dual storytelling technique, which combines two narratives simultaneously. The main story, which comprises the top 75% of each page, follows Rusty Brown and his despondent father Woody as they prepare for the first day of school (Rusty's father is a teacher at the same school), while along the bottom of each page, running almost like a news ticker, is the story of Chalky White's preparations for the same day of school. By contrasting the two families, Ware is able to cleverly intersect the narratives as characters encounter each other, offering two perspectives on a single incident (see sample page 2), such as Mr. Brown's awkward encounter with Chalky's sister in the hallway. Readers of Ware's Building Stories (reviewed below) will recognize the last 8 pages, which feature a sort of an introduction to the New York Times series. The strips presented here are new, but the stories focus on the same characters, and it's not clear if they are directly related to the story in the Times, or ancillary. Regardless, they are typical examples of Ware's genius at designing unconventional page layouts as arrows guide the reader’s eyes between the clusters of tiny panels like some mad game of Chutes and Ladders. Each page is offset with a 3D cross-section cutout of one of the apartments in the building, highlighting the increasing influence of architectural design in Ware's more recent work. I don't think there's much more that I can say about Ware that hasn't already been said. Acme Novelty is absolutely the best comic being published today! Grade: 5 out of 5
Minimum Security
Sample Page 1 Stephanie McMillan's collection of political cartoons is a compelling condemnation of George W. Bush's presidency. Though I wish Americans were capable of intelligent, rational discussion on politics, free to disagree without judgment, I know instead that McMillan's cartoons will offend those who feel aligned with the current administration. But after reading Minimum Security, NBM's third installment in their Attitude series of “subversive” political cartoons, it's hard to disagree with the overwhelming evidence McMillan presents against the Bush administration. McMillan focuses on everything from the lies and deceit used to incite war in Iraq, to the lies and deceit used to exploit other nations for our own profit through the World Trade Organization. McMillan also dissects the current administration's role in the global destruction of the environment, sharpening her pencil on subjects such as global warming, pollution, toxic waste disposal, genetically modified food and oil drilling, to name a few. Read together in one collection, these strips, which ran in alternative newspapers around the country from 1999-2005, paint a disturbing picture of an administration concerned only with increasing the profits of big business, and expanding the military industrial complex. McMillan's cartoons, which usually range from 1-3 panels, are drawn in a cute style reminiscent of Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis with a dash of Richard Sala noticeable in some of the more grotesque character designs. But to be honest, the art style isn't really the point here. These are not sequential narratives, or even meant to be comic art pieces. These are, first and foremost, personal expressions of frustration, disgust and rage against a government which has failed to represent the interests of the people it is supposed to represent. As a cartoonist, McMillan is articulate, intelligent, and her subjects are concise, well-researched and factual, as evidenced by the webliography at the end of the book. Minimum Security is an outstanding example of truly pointed and cutting political cartooning, the kind you won't find in any of the major newspapers. Grade: 4.5 our of 5
Solo #8 Danish artist Teddy Kristiansen has one of the most visually distinctive styles in comics. His work on DC’s House of Secrets showed tremendous vision, and remains one of the most underrated Vertigo titles, but it was his work on It’s A Bird… which finally earned Kristiansen a much deserved Eisner Award. But in the most recent issue of Solo, Kristiansen proves that he is more than just an illustrator, as of the five stories contained in this issue, the best three he penned himself. And that's saying something considering the other two stories were written by fellow collaborators Steven T. Seagle (It's A Bird and House of Secrets) and comics legend Neil Gaiman (Sandman Midnight Theater). Unlike the previous Solo artists, Kristiansen barely delves into the DC sandbox, preferring to focus on character-driven original stories over re-interpretations of superheroes. The only DC character who appears in the book is Deadman, who opens the book with a typically vague yet fascinating supernatural vignette written by Gaiman. The story focuses on a conversation between Deadman and a young girl, recently deceased, about the experiences of inhabiting bodies. It's enjoyably intelligent and Kristiansen's moody, impressionistic artwork captures the wistfulness and longing of the dialogue perfectly. Seagle's story of an ill-fated Christian missionary is the weakest of the issue, but is quickly followed by two outstanding original shorts. The first, entitled simply "Love Story," is a first person monologue about a painter whose muse is struck by a woman reading on her balcony. Kristiansen's prose is as beautiful as his artwork (“Here in the darkness, each star seemed cut as a sharp piece of glass, reflecting the passed day’s sunlight.”). The art and text both convey a sense of inspired longing for connection weighted down by an understanding, at some deep level, that this will never be realized. Artistically, Kristiansen's colored pencils mixed with muted watercolors create a beautiful effect. Kristiansen also infuses a real sense of place into the story with his buildings and streets, which are clearly European in design. However, the best story of the issue is "Ruins," a masterpiece of short comics fiction, and one that I would say rates among the best short stories I've read in recent memory, comics or prose. "Ruins" follows another painter as he embarks on a rather unusual and mysterious assignment to paint 18 portraits of famous churches as if they’d been destroyed. The commission is offered by the famous architect who designed the churches, and as the story unfolds, we learn that the ruins are a metaphor for a far greater loss. It's as literary a comic story as I've read in a long time, and operates on several metaphoric levels. The narrators, of which there are two, interplay with each other perfectly, reading like a memoir developed into a research documentary. The painted artwork, where each panel is presented as a tiny canvas, has all the mood, style and elegance of the paintings themselves, a few of which are actually included. The issue closes with a dark tale of a ship of men stranded on the ice, and the slow onset of madness that results from the realization of their impending deaths. It's a chilling conclusion to an outstanding collection and along with Paul Pope's contributions in Solo #3, this issue is the best of the series so far. Grade: 4.5 our of 5
Building Stories
By Chris Ware What is perhaps Chris Ware's greatest work is not even available in comics stores! Instead, each Sunday in the pages of the New York Times Magazine, Ware harkens back to the glorious twenties when cartoonists were regularly given a full page to do with as they pleased. As anyone who has picked up a newspaper in the last 50 years knows, that format has long since disappeared, but the Times Magazine, long a proponent of the literary qualities of graphic novels, has given Ware the space and freedom to re-establish this lost format. It's difficult to gauge the success or failure of such an undertaking. Has Ware's presence in such a high profile newspaper translated into increased sales of his graphic novels? I can’t say, but I am skeptical. Still, at a minimum, thousands of non-comics readers who would otherwise never see such a sterling example of the vibrancy and innovation potential in the artform are now routinely exposed to Ware's weekly serial. That serial, aptly titled Building Stories, has seen 18 pages released thus far (though more have appeared in Ware’s various printed works, as noted above). Fans of Ware's work will find the usual mix of innovative page designs with quiet, compelling moments filled with the familiar themes of sadness, longing and regret. The story focuses on the eclectic group of residents of a typical urban apartment building. The characters themselves are also vintage Ware - melancholy, lonely, helpless romantics. Perhaps most fascinating is Ware's amputee woman character who has shown up in several of his short stories (including Kramer's Ergot 5 and most recently in Acme Novelty Library 16 (see above)) whose experiences with such trivial problems as an overflowing toilet become monumental struggles. The first three chapters of Building Stories establish the building itself as one of the narrators, as it reflects on its dilapidated current state and longs for a return to its past glory. That Ware is able to give such a confident, unique voice to a structure is a sign of his continued growth and reach as a writer. Perhaps the best part about Building Stories is that it's free with registration to the NY Times website (which is also free and in the 5 years or so I've had it, I've never gotten any spam), and the pages can be viewed as full color PDF files. Whether you're stuck in an office and looking for a way to pass an hour, or just want to read one of the great unpublished graphic novels, this is absolutely worth seeking out. Grade: 5 out of 5 -- Marc Sobel
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