Fictional Father

I have been a big fan of Joe Ollmann's graphic novels. Both of them have appeared on my end-of-year favorites lists, characterized by strong characters and extensive research. Fictional Father is no exception to this pattern. It is a compelling look at Caleb Wyatt, a 40-something-year-old artist and recovering alcoholic who lives in the huge shadow of his dad Jimmi. Since 1966, Jimmi Wyatt draws the wildly successful comic strip called Sonny Side Up, about a single dad trying to run a restaurant while raising his son. It's a sort of combination of the everyday life of Peanuts and and the more cloying sentiment of Family Circus, and it makes Jimmi into a rich celebrity known as "Everybody's Dad." There are TV adaptations of his cartoons and tons of merchandising featuring the strip's characters and catch phrase "Wanna Share My Cookie?" Jimmi is the sort of guy who golfs with Tony Bennett, counts Barack Obama among his fans, and has countless affairs. He's not a good husband or dad, but he is good at living a life of excess.

Caleb does benefit from this fortune, being largely pampered and financially supported, though there were a tough couple of years when he was in art school and published a small-press, limited run of underground comix lampooning his father's famous strip. Still, his long-suffering, acerbic mother, who remained married to Jimmi through it all, does bail him out. Now, in middle age, he finds himself  aimless, painting abstract art for view in galleries propped up by his dad, working part-time as a sponsor for a local recovery clinic, and being a bad partner to his long-term boyfriend James. He is still dealing with the fallout of his childhood, but he is also old enough to know better. He still attends weekly dinner with his parents and depends on their largess while wanting more but doing nothing about it. He makes lots of capricious and poor choices, and part of what makes this book so compelling is watching how he keeps making a pig's ear out of a silk purse.

What also makes this book compelling is the extent Ollmann went to in constructing this narrative. The main plot is accompanied with "original art" from Sonny Side Up, which accentuates the drama and tone of the book. It fabricates a believable set of connections between the characters and the real world, and personally I loved all the references to comics creators from the classic newspaper strip days as well as from the alt-comix heydays of the 1990s. I know that many readers might not get these industry in-jokes, but I really appreciated them. So much has gone into constructing this fiction, and I admire its craft and attention to details.

The artwork mirrors the horrible aspects of the characters, and it is beautifully ugly. Everyone seems old and haggard, reflecting all the turmoil and troubles they have both endured and inflicted on others. There is not a lot of happiness in this book, at least in terms of the story and characters, but I saw a sort of delight in the realization of this tale. It's a marvelously crafted book and story: Once I started reading Fictional Father, I could not put it down. 

As I wrote above, I am a big fan of Ollman's graphic novels, Mid-Life and The Abominable Mr. Seabrook. He speaks more about his work on Fictional Father in this interview.

All of the reviews I have read about this book have leaned positive. In a starred review Publishers Weekly called it "a complex look at an artist’s evolving relationship to the past." Brad MacKay wrote that "thanks to Ollmann’s confident, assured storytelling it’s a journey well-worth taking." Colin Moon opined, "Fictional Father is perhaps an imperfect work, but nonetheless a compelling one, so long as you can get over the preposterously whining tone it sometimes steeps itself in."

Fictional Father was published by Drawn & Quarterly, and they offer a preview and more information here.

Oh, Caleb...

Crash Site

I was intrigued when I saw this title solicited, and reading it was a beguiling and bewildering experience. Crash Site is a strange and provocative book that definitely makes an impression. It is ostensibly a survival tale starring three protagonists: Rosie, a young, white, British woman who is vapid and self-centered; her devoted dog Denton, whom she uses as a drug mule, and Pants Dude, the most sinister anthropomorphic pair of underwear ever. 

After plane crash left the trio as the sole survivors stranded in the Amazon, they have to deal with the elements as well as a each other. A self-centered woman, emotionally needy dog, and murderous pair of panties that wants to pocket the entire score for itself make for a whole lot of drama.

This survival plot is intriguing and captured my imagination, but there are many aspects in this book that make for curious juxtapositions. The main narrative is a harrowing tale where one character is literally a cute pair of panties wielding a knife. There is an ongoing exploration of colonialism, from the practice of smuggling drugs to racist stereotypes in video games to the artwork of the book, which borrows heavily from the conventions of horror manga. It is also somewhat cartoonish and kawaii, which belies so many of its situations and commentaries. There are also several scenes that look at the intersections of sexuality and violence, such as when Rosie and her friends practically murder a lifeguard who tells them they cannot sunbathe in the nude and when Denton gets caught masturbating to a magazine called Woke Girls.

This is a book that lets readers have their cake, but the cake is a tough one to swallow, a mixture of disparate and clashing flavors. Instances of fan service are combined with horror imagery. Almost every joke accompanies scenes of violence and murder. Social commentary appears and is overwhelmed by absurdity. I think this is a surprisingly complex book, one I appreciated and enjoyed, though I imagine it is not to everyone's taste. So much about this book made me feel uncomfortable and off-balance, but in such compelling ways.

I could not locate much information about this book's author Nathan Cowdry, but I plan to check out whatever he publishes. He has put out a few other zines and comics, including Shiner and Western Voyeur.

The reviews I have read about this book wrestle with its complexity. Publishers Weekly concluded, "Cowdry’s mix of rock-solid gags, horrifying imagery, and surreal satire makes for an unsettling and indelible experience." Nicholas Burman wrote, "Crash Site is a comic that tickles your ribs and also strikes them a few times with a hot poker." Hillary Brown opined, "I kept teetering between annoyance at Crash Site and liking it, which could be what Cowdry is striving for."

Crash Site was published by Fantagraphics, and they offer a preview and more information about it here. If you have even skimmed this review, you should glean that it is suggested for mature readers.

Desperate Pleasures

I read Desperate Pleasures because I have heard great things about the author's debut book, Tinderella. This book is the direct follow-up, and it has a more serious tone and features excellent cartooning that depict powerful scenes of loss and desperation. I feel it is a brave work of autobiography, where the author reveals much of herself as she ponders her life choices and trajectory. She spends her time attending college, dealing pot, and "sugar dating," which entails her dating older, rich men for sex and money. 

She also dabbles in online dating and has a few casual relationships with guys she deals to/meets at her local gym. 

When one of these relationships gets more complicated, M.S. begins taking a look at her life and past, which brings her to revisit her childhood in Oklahoma, where her mother was an isolated wife with two small children and her father would only be seen during his shore leave. This flashback period is told in a slightly more realistic, softer art style and almost without dialogue, which heightens the drama. Some details are established, such as that her father sexually abused her, but others are left vague. In the present, M.S. has a healthy relationship with her little brother, regularly seeing him and coaching his workout routine at the gym. She has not spoken to her mother in years, and nothing is revealed about her father other than he was found guilty of sexual assault and imprisoned. 

The resulting portrait is of a person reeling and in pain, trying to somehow medicate herself and learn how to feel. I admire her trying to find something healthy in her relationships, even when she makes some questionable choices. Still, over the course of the book she does make some changes and begins to find more of positive direction. Having such access to her private life makes for a compelling, uncomfortable, and visceral reading experience, perfectly complemented by expert storytelling. I really want to go read Tinderella now.

M.S. Harkness is best known for the aforementioned Tinderella, and she has also created a number of mini-comics. She speaks about her career and work on Desperate Pleasures in this interview.

Desperate Pleasures  was recently short-listed for the 2021 Cartoonist Studio Prize, and the reviews I have read about this book have been largely positive. Ryan Carey wrote that it is "a 'heavy' read on the whole, sure, particularly when contrasted with earlier works in Harkness’ oeuvre, but it’s never less than an absolute joy to look at." Publishers Weekly called it a "fresh anti-romance."

Desperate Pleasures was published by Uncivilized Books, and they offer a preview and more info about it here. Because of scenes of drug use, sex, and adult themes, I recommend this book for more mature readers.

Blood and Drugs

The fourth book I got from my Kickstarter pledge, Blood and Drugs is a beautiful and horrible book, an intimate look at addiction and recovery. The main character is Buster, and he introduces himself thus:

Having heroin drive his decision making has led to him alienating his wife, children, and pretty much everyone else in his life. He lives in a group home, has to attend regular recovery meetings, and is trying to put his life together. Making this transition is not an easy thing, and he struggles with many  things. First off, he has messed up his drawing hand, which makes it difficult for him to make a living. He has to deal with cantankerous addicts and ex-addicts, stern caretakers at the group home, and simple things like acquiring transportation and finding adequate living arrangements. He also has to contend with a predatory art buyer who has snapped up his past works for pennies and flipped them for huge profits.

The book is divided into 12 chapters to echo the 12 steps of AA, and each paints a picture of the fits and starts that go along with recovery. Some days he makes progress, others he falters some. Some days he has to contend with difficult relationships and poor decision making, while others he finds hope and possibility. This book does not feature a cookie-cutter, happy-ending story but more of a visceral portrait of a person trying to find his way in a troubled world. He does find solace in some good friends, including his group home roommate, Nance, also a person in transition.

In the end, I was struck by how nuanced and complex these characters were. I have heard many recovery stories, and this one rings true to the range of experiences I have learned about. Also, I loved the bold, crude art style that tells this tale. In many ways, this book is a tough read, but it is also a very worthwhile one.

Lance Ward created this book, where Buster acts as a fictional stand-in for the author. He is known for his autobiographical comics Kmart Shoes and its sequel "Adults Only." He speaks about his life in work in this podcast interview.

All of the reviews I have read of this book have been positive. Matt Vadnais called it "one of the most honest comics I’ve read in years." John Seven wrote, "With a stark and messy cartooning style dominated by thick black lines that have a life of their own, Ward does an amazing job of not only depicting the world that Buster lives in, but representing his emotional state of disarray." Ryan Carey called it "a strong work of comics realism and one of the most instantly-memorable reads in some time." Publishers Weekly added that it "delivers an unmistakably raw integrity."

Blood and Drugs was published by Birdcage Bottom Books, and they offer a preview and more here.

A spotlight on Birdcage Bottom Books

Several months back, I backed a Kickstarter campaign for Birdcage Bottom Books, and I am finally getting around to reading and reviewing these books. Today, I will write about three of the ones I received, and I'll save one to write about in my next entry.

Future Corpse is a short collection of comics by Eva Müller,  whose In the Future, We Are Dead was one of my favorite graphic novels published last year. There are a few short tales in this slim book, including an autobiographical look at growing up as a feminist, a look at how Karl Marx would be in contemporary times, and a frightening nightmare about a giant snake and failure.

I think that Müller is one of the best comics artists out there right now, and it's good to see some new work from her.

This book was actually a throw-in, as they like to offer freebies from other publishers they sell through their catalog. I had not actually read any Snakepit comics before, and it's a year's worth of diary comics from (as you might guess from the title) 2009. Each day, Ben Snakepit draws a 3-panel comic about the goings-on in his life. I am not going to say that each day is eventful or overly exciting, but it is strangely compelling to see a consistent record of what people do, even if it is eat, play in a band, watch movies, and hang out.

It is an enjoyable book and, interestingly, now a time capsule from 10 years ago (which is crazy, if you think about it). I cannot help but love a book that explicitly states on the front page that it "ever shall be intended to be read on the toilet."

Rooftop Stew is an acquired taste, I would say. It is a book full of short stories by Max Clotfelter that range from uncomfortably relatable autobiographical tales to gruesome yet funny fictional accounts of way-out characters like a family of drug addicts that sells their baby, FEMA victims who are forced to farm mutant foods, and neanderthal bar patrons. It's a very visceral book, both in terms of the art style and story content, and I found the whole thing utterly compelling. Sure, I winced a few times, but it's a rare book that simultaneously makes you want to put it down while also being so gripping it makes it impossible to actually put down. Also, in a way it's also an educational comic, for instance I learned what happens to a raccoon tail if you leave it under a dresser for six years. It's definitely not a book for young readers or the easily offended, but it is certainly full of eye-popping art, weird situations, and dark humor. If you think this excerpt is funny, it might just be a book for you.

The reviews I have read of this book have been very positive. Warren Elliott called it "lowbrow comix at its finest!" Publishers Weekly concluded, "This is a yawp of a book that highlights Clotfelter’s willingness to confront his demons head-on and turn them into visceral and emotionally affecting art." Robert Kirby opined, "Clotfelter is a natural storyteller, with a worldview and persona peculiarly his own, wrapped up in a visual style that fits it all like a ratty glove."

Rooftop Stew and Future Corpse are available here to purchase. Snakepit 2009 is available here.

Cannabis: The Illegalization of Weed in America

First off, I meant to have this post up for April 20, but life has been hectic lately, and as you might tell, I have not been posting as regularly as accustomed. Hopefully, this is the book to get me back on track. I am a big fan of Box Brown's work, and in the past his stuff has appeared on my "Best of" year-end lists. This book is unique though in that I am not really that familiar with the topic and it's not something, like professional wrestling, video games, or comedy, that I have been a fan of. So this book was more of a learning platform for me. Cannabis: The Illegalization of Weed in America covers a lot of ground and includes lots of different insights. It shows, among other things,

the science behind getting high on marijuana

an origin myth from the Hindu tradition

a history of false assumptions and spurious science.

And I gleaned much here. For instance, I had no idea who Harry J. Anslinger was before I read this book, let alone that the man almost single-handed created the "war on drugs" as we know it. It is horrifying to see how much he relied on false claims, racism, and prejudice against immigrants to push public policies that have led to decades of abuse, misinformation, and incarceration. A large portion of the book focuses on his work, and he definitely comes off as a villain, which seems appropriate and sadly familiar to some contemporary voices I hear.

There is a lot going on in this work, and it is well researched, with a huge bibliography at the end. I think it may have benefited from some chapter headings to help steer the reader, but overall I feel it does its job well. It contains all sorts of disparate information and weaves it together into a portrayal of the modern take on marijuana use. It also makes a strong thesis for why current policies and views are misguided and wrong. I feel it is a strong piece of comics rhetoric and history, and I highly recommend it.

This book's creator Box Brown has left a big footprint in comics already, founding the indie imprint Retrofit Comics. He has also created a cavalcade of comics, mini-comics, and graphic novels, including his biographys of Andre the Giant and Andy Kaufman as well as his history of Tetris. He speaks about his work on Cannabis in this interview as well as this NPR interview.

The reviews I have read of this book have ranged from good to lukewarm. Jonathan O'Neal wrote, "Brown’s book presents an impassioned case for continuing the discussion over this very complicated issue, and with “Cannabis: The Illegalization of Weed in America,” Brown becomes an important voice in that conversation." Henry Chamberlain called it "a most remarkable book in how it packs together a disparate clump of facts and myths and makes sense of it all." Kirkus Reviews summed up, "Not as engaging as the author’s bio of Andre the Giant, but his uncluttered drawings suit his straightforward argument."

Cannabis was published by First Second, and they offer a preview and much more here.

Today is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life

So, Like I wrote earlier, I signed up for Comixology Unlimited. I have been diving into a few books lately, seeing what is offered and if the service is worth my while. Today is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life was a title offered by one of my favorite publishers, and although I had not heard of the book (despite it being a multiple award winner-Where have I been?), it sounded intriguing and I thought I would give it a shot. It turns out that this chance reading ended up ending up being pretty lengthy, almost 500 pages of comics(!).

As it turns out, I was entirely enthralled by this book and I took it down in a few sittings. It was utterly compelling, raw, suspenseful, and revelatory. The narrative focused on a young Austrian woman who was into punk rock and decided to go on a trek with some friends in the summer of 1984. These women take off in search of a good time, and in turn they have many adventures, party, face the menace of sexual violence, and try to scrounge up money or food. They take part in many illegal activities and run afoul of displaced artists, pimps, wanna-be pimps, and organized crime.

The story is sort of nostalgic, but not sickeningly sweet or overly romanticized. I thought that the characters were very well defined, and the drama of all these situations was quite powerful and moving. I am very glad I took the time to explore this service and find this gem of a book.

This book's creator and main character is Ulli Lust, winner of an Ignatz and an Eisner Award nominee. I love her rough-edged artwork and masterful storytelling as well as the limited color palate that lend the proceedings a grungy authenticity. She speaks extensively about her life and career in this interview.

All of the reviews I have read about this book have been very positive. Robert Kirby opined that this book is so successful because Lust had so much time to reflect on these events, and he wrote, "She captures perfectly and without judgment the complex social, cultural, and personal maelstrom she willingly entered into that summer, offering readers a wonderfully vicarious thrill in the process." Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review and wrote, "Her recollections willfully expose the dark side of an anarchic lifestyle, yet are void of any didactic embellishment, and instead form a genuine and nonjudgmental look at aimless youth and rebellion." Eddie Campbell likened it to "a person who came to stay and I didn’t realize how much I was enjoying their company until after they’d left."

Today is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life was published in the US by Fantagraphics Books, and they have a preview and more available here. If it is not clear by now, this is not a book for children.

Megahex

Megahex may very well be the funniest and saddest graphic novel I read this year. On the surface, the stories seem simple enough. There are three roommates, Megg (a witch), Mogg (her cat/lover), and Owl (a large anthropomorphic Owl) living in a house. They get high, they pull pranks on each other, and they cavort with their friends. Much of the beginning of the book is full of drug humor and gross bits, like an ugly feet contest and their friend Werefwolf Jones taking a grater to his genitals (it's not pretty). What is pretty is the painterly quality of the art, with cartoon images combined with watercolors. The storytelling is also quite deft, with a combination of one page gags like this:

It also has extended sequences like this one, which are episodic looks at their mundane lives:

Owl often is the butt of abuse, and for the most part these sequences are darkly humorous. As I read the book though, I began to realize more and more that it was also strongly about Megg's depression and her overwhelming sense of dread. The latter sequences of the book are a strong portrayal of a very troubled person trying to anesthetize herself to reality. So, in the end for me, this book is a great mass of contradictions: beautiful art used to tell base, stoner jokes and a pretty basic humor structure that slowly builds into a very serious drama. Megahex is a provocative and complex piece of art.

Simon Hanselmann created this book. He publishes new Megg, Mogg, and Owl webcomics each week at VICE. He speaks about his life, inspirations, and work on this book in this interview.

All of the reviews I have read of this book praise it highly. Hilary Brown wrote, "There may be an abundance of stoner comedies, but very few stoner tragedies exist; Hanselmann’s subtle approach makes Megahex both at the same time." Henry Chamberlain explained, "Megahex, as is apt for its name, has magic. It is also way out there, our best connection today to the heyday of the comix underground." Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review and concluded. "The story is depressing as often as it is funny, a cautionary tale that’s at its best when Hanselmann spreads his writing wings, extending beyond a gag strip into an honest exploration of his deeply flawed leads."

And if it is unclear by now, this is a book strictly for adults. It is full of drug use, sexual situations, crude humor, explicit language, disgusting bodily functions, and adult themes.

Megahex was published by Fantagraphics Books, and they provide a preview and much more here.

The Beats: A Graphic History

The Beats covers a lot of ground in terms of a historical movement and its constituents. The Beat Generation monicker is applied to a group of writers whose works appeared post-World War Two and were a precursor to the hippie counterculture of the 1960s. Most of this book covers a triumvirate of Beat writers, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs. It is unflinching in its portrayals of their drug use, sexual activities, and various other activities, though it only documents profane activities and does not depict them. It also chronicles their major works, career achievements, and the arcs of their lifetimes. It is at once highly informative

as well as entertaining enough, full of interesting tidbits and good stories.

After attending to the "big three" Beats, the rest of the book contains many shorter pieces about less well known poets and writers, like Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Kenneth Rexroth. I found these succinct pieces more desirable and informative.They certainly cast a larger view of the movement and these authors that went beyond the hard-drinking, hard-living, and largely misogynistic portraits of Kerouac, Burroughs, and, to a lesser extent, Ginsberg.

Although I am a big fan of much of Harvey Pekar's comics work, overall this set of stories is a little stiff, perhaps too journalistic, and overly celebratory for me. Additionally, I am a big fan of Ed Piskor's work, but this effort is more a story with graphics than it is a graphic narrative. I think he has grown exponentially as a comics creator, and his more recent efforts on Wizzywig and Hip Hop Family Tree are more fleshed out, vibrant, and exciting. More to my liking among the Beat poets stories were some of the shorter stories in the back of the book, especially the ones about Gary Snyder drawn by Peter Kuper and Diane di Prima illustrated by Mary Fleener. I was also enthralled by Trina Robbins and Anne Timmons' tale of painter Joy DeFeo creating The Rose, and the final piece in the book by Jeffrey Lewis on poet/anarchist/pacifist Tuli Kupferberg and his band The Fugs, which excellently portrays the transition from Beats to hippies.

Perhaps the best part of this book was a piece written by Joyce Brabner and drawn by Summer McClinton about beatnik women. This visual essay provides a strong counterpoint to the rest of the book, acknowledging and transcending the sexism and cruder parts of the beatnik movement. It is a smartly written and well flowing look at a largely overlooked set of writers and thinkers who deserve more credit for their accomplishments.

The reviews I have read have taken this history to task for various matters. The New York Times' John Leland called the book "plainly celebratory" and added that it glosses over some history and is somewhat self-promoting. Pádraig Ó Méalóid, a fan of Pekar's earlier work, did not enjoy this book, stating "that the writing and art often seemed terribly static and undynamic." Gerald Nicosia felt that the beginning of the book was a "disaster" and fraught with errors, but that the latter parts focusing on beatnik women and more minor poets saved it. He summed up that it was "notable for the completeness of its portrait of that magical era - an achievement that, whether in comics or literary biographies, is as impressive as it is rare."

The Beats: A Graphic History was published by Hill and Wang.