2009 is the year I became a comic book geek. I still find all the muscles, tits, and guns weekly superhero fare tedious, irritating and bordering on pornography, so that stays firmly in the “AVOID” category, but I have become an avid fan of the graphic novel medium. My love of comic strips remains unabated. More on that later.
I’d become interested in the medium after I was given the superb, genre-defining “Watchmen” by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons and it’s disappointing film version. I found something there which could not be translated into another medium, and that was eye-opening. For many years it seemed like anything could be translated into a different form (most notably, film) and it was refreshing to find something which existed so perfectly in it’s original state. I began to seek out graphic novels, but I had trouble finding something that appealed to me. I either had an issue with the art or the words when perusing well-known graphic novelists, and nothing was really jumping out at me.
One day in Chapters I found a rather large graphic novel called “Bottomless Belly Button.” The title intrigued me; I’ve always been a fan of navel-gazing fare, and the author seemed to be telling me that there was endless depth to everyday life, an idea I had often entertained. I flipped through it and the drawings weren’t exactly my cup of tea, but there was enough there that I could latch onto that I bought it.
I read the whole 700 page book in one sitting. Damn fine storytelling, compelling characters, and another example of a piece of art which is perfectly attuned to it’s medium. There is no need to tell this story any other way. It was the perfect way to get further into graphic novels.
Following “Bottomless Belly Button” I went back to Alan Moore for his epic meditation on the works of Jack the Ripper, “From Hell.” Absolutely mind-blowing. You finish that book with the feeling that you’ve tapped into something larger than yourself. A must-read.
In a completely different tone, though no less engrossing, is Bryan Lee O’Malley’s “Scott Pilgrim” series. I always laugh at the ironic nature of these books. It must take an enormous amount time and effort to complete something that reads so quickly. But its energy does not bely it’s depth in examining the 20-something scene of Toronto, circa 2005. Despite my earlier sentiments about translating form, I absolutely cannot wait for the film version of this book, directed by Edgar Wright. This is mainly because I think there is such a musical nature to this book that it needs to be heard as well as read. It will be interesting to see if the kinetic nature of the books translates well to the screen (with actual movements) or if the tension of the book is that these are still pictures, moments in time. Plus, there’s a character named “Knives Chau.” That is so effing cool.
Finally of note (though four books is hardly representative of the amount that I’ve consumed this year), is Lynda Barry’s scrapbook-esque “What It Is.” Barry creates her own image system in this exploration of the unknown, and if that’s not impressive to you, then who are you? Do we know each other? Get out! Her central question is “What is this formless thing which gives things form?” which translates into a series of unanswerable questions about the nature of art. She uses both her own life as a case study and delves into the abstract to create a thought-provoking, rich dialogue with herself and every kind of artist. Unbelievable.
Extremely helpful in broadening horizons has been the “Best American Comics” series, of which there are four volumes now. The series chooses prime examples of every English language, North American comic which is printed over the course of a year.
And of course, you should check out the following webcomics:
