Category: Books & Comics

So I’ve enjoyed my first graphic novel.

I’ve tried reading, oh, I dunno, a dozen or so that most comics aficionados agree are masterworks. But I found most have left me either cold or confused.

But Watchmen by Alan Moore (whose photo on the back cover reminds me of Harry Shearer in Spinal Tap) and Dave Gibbons is a pretty good read. The story is complex and nuanced, and the art, while presented simply, is gorgeous.

I’m probably not telling you anything you don’t already know. After all, there are about 250 reviews on Amazon and the average review is 4-1/2 stars. Readers title their opinions with superlatives including “perfection,” “haunting,” and “masterpiece.” Most comics fans have already read and re-read this book numerous times, but I’m offering my two cents anyway.

Without giving away the plot, Watchmen follows a group of superheroes as they try to unravel a series of ‘mask killings.’ But what’s most interesting is the portrayal of said heroes as people. They have sex, harbor regrets, and display morals in all shades of gray. They’re complicated, and it’s fascinating.

I will admit, however, that I found some of the long sections of text (presented as news articles, book excerpts and the like) a tad dry and I’d stopped reading them by then end. An Amazon reviewer and I also agree that the pirate novel device grew tedious quickly.

But, all in all this is the first graphic novel that I’ve actually enjoyed reading. Is it the greatest comic book ever written? I don’t know, it would depend on what you’re looking for from your superheroes.

I will say that the term ‘graphic novel’ seems to fit Watchmen exceptionally well here as the work is neither great literature nor simply a comic book. It is, like its characters and plot, complicated, and it makes me want to explore this genre further.

The Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker has been receiving the lion’s share of the cartoon press lately (and indeed I’ll also review it soon), but one outstanding cartoon collection that seems to have been largely ignored this year is the wonderful Playboy – 50 Years: The Cartoons.

This beautifully realized 368-page volume contains such legends as Eldon Dedini, Jules Feiffer, Shel Silverstein, Erich Sokol (one of my personal favorites) and Gahan Wilson as well as a host of other brilliant artists (including some great Vargas).

OK, a lot of the material involves sex and nudity, but what’s surprising is how honestly inoffensive the material is. Playboy has always been the classiest of the men’s magazines and it presents cartoons that are titillating without being overtly graphic (think sexy, not filthy).

Take Kilban’s wife in a nighty remarking to her cymbal clasping husband as he climbs into bed, “Not tonight dear… I have a headache.”

Or Erickson’s woman having just disrobed for her physical finding a naked doctor shouting “Surprise!”

Of course there’s a lot of material that has nothing to do with sex at all. LeLievre’s “Mach 10” razor includes blades that “read the whiskers its rights” and “counsels the whisker and gives it a hug.”

And there are few cartoon books out there that present such beautiful full page full color cartoons, much less the treasure trove that Playboy has.

My wife was a little concerned about me buying this huge chunk of Playboy, but even she laughed at the cartoons as I showed them to her (although she still won’t let me get a subscription).

Please don’t miss your opportunity to pick up Playboy – 50 Years: The Cartoons in hardcover. It’s a brilliant collection that will keep any cartoon fan blushing and laughing for years to come.

The sky was indeed falling.

Like most Americans I remember September 11, 2001 with complete clarity. I had come into work early and was sitting at my computer planning my day. My supervisor arrived and while taking off his coat remarked that he’d heard something about a plane hitting the World Trade Center in New York.

At that point no one here even knew what kind of plane it had been and I made a comment akin to “How do you miss the World Trade Center?! I mean, for God’s sake, there’s two of them!”

Of course they weren’t trying to miss.

Myself and the rest of the staff spent the morning holed up in either the owner’s office or the kitchen staring at televisions showing images more and more tragic as the day wore on.

That evening my wife and I cried and held each other and wondered what the future held.

Three years later, Spiegelman’s “slow-motion diary,” In the Shadow of No Towers now sits in my pile of books to be returned to the library. And while it was interesting and beautifully realized, I find myself trying to figure why this book didn’t touch me.

The book, which structurally is very much like a gigantic children’s board book, has ten large pieces, each of which spans the book’s fold mimicking full page newspaper comics of old.

Spiegelman chronicles witnessing the disaster, searching for his daughter afterwards and his attempt to return to some sense of normalcy.

Each spread is beautifully illustrated, the writing is honest and uncompromising, and I even enjoyed the reprintings of early comics that make up the final third of the book. (“The Upside-Downs of Little Lady Lovekins and Old Man Muffaroo – The Fairy Palace” was especially fascinating.)

So why didn’t the book touch me?!

Maybe I’m not clever enough to see some symbolism that Spiegelman intended. Perhaps it’s that I am, as Carrie Newcomer puts it, “hopelessly Midwestern” and am unable to grasp the New York-iness of it.

But, having discussed this with my wife at breakfast, I think the problem is that my own strong memories and emotions connected to September 11th simply don’t allow me to connect fully with Spiegelman’s vision.

The tragedy, while so very public, is also very personal to each of us. It’s very much like the Kennedy assassination – everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing when it happened. But when it’s brought up in conversation, you’re never really as interested in hearing other people’s experiences as you are in telling your own.

Lots of people smarter than I like this book very much calling it an “artful rant” and “powerful and quirky,” and I didn’t dislike it per se, but I think in the end that what I brought to the book somehow wouldn’t allow me to fully surrender to it. Is it wrong to say I wish I’d enjoyed these tragic musings more? I don’t know.

I really miss those towers though.

Check out another fun NPR interview with New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast.

Chast discusses the perfect family, finding material and the Wisconsin Cheese Man. Good stuff!

I’ve also recently picked up her most recent book, “The Party After You Left.”

Some great Chast goofiness including the “Road Rage Highway”, the latest issue of “Schadenfreude Monthly,” and a guide to “Inacuppressure Points.”

Chast by her very nature is a much longer read than most of your gag cartoon collections, but it’s well worth it!