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By Jonas Leijonhufvud
Arizona Daily Wildcat
October 17, 1996
The last comic book you probably read was titled The Incredible Hulk battles Swamp Thing, and you were probably 10 years old when you read it. What you've been missing out on is a narrative art form that goes way beyond the realm of poorly drawn superheros. Comic books for adults have developed along many different lines in the past decades, and stores carry everything from graphic novels to graphic porn. Needles to say, it isn't all good. But there's a world of variety out there and many gems may be found in it.
The two brightest stars of contemporary indie comics are Dan Clowes and Peter Bagge. They've both earned their status by producing comic books that combine unique personal styles with accessible stories. Ironic commentary on popular culture is widespread in their work, and no love is lost on the alternative culture scene that they both have found themselves part of.
Peter Bagge, pronounced "bag", is the lighter, more narrative of the two. Throughout his comic book series Hate (formally Neat Stuff) he's retained a thread of, more or less, consistent characters. The stories center around Buddy Bradley, an aging slacker who's life has added up to a refined knowledge of modern sub-culture and little else. Early Hate plots take place in Seattle and involve visiting dysfunctional family members, conflicts with roommates, pretentious hipsters, sex, drugs, and rock n' roll. Seattle's grunge scene is portrayed wryly in the 1992 issues as Buddy's off-and-on roommate Stinky convinces him to co-manage a local band. (A frame of the band yelling "I scream, you scream, we all scream for heroin" spawned a popular t-shirt.) The narratives are tight and the structure is innovative. Characters address the reader directly at times, little arrows point out hidden details in the scenes, and ironic payoffs lurk behind the unturned page. Hate has retained its high quality throughout its 24 issues but the early ones are perhaps a little sharper.
Chicago artist Dan Clowes, on the other hand, has clearly improved over the years. He debuted in 1986 with Lloyd Llewellyn, and followed it up with his current comic book titled Eightball in 1989. If you lived in one of the test cities during Coca-Cola's failed OK Soda campaign you'll recognize Clowes' art from the covers of the cans. His style borrows from formal 1950's illustrations and, at times, from the bazaar and contorted art of Bosch. His surreal mystery series, Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron, stretches through much of the early Eightball issues. It is a little too weird and "underground" for me. Although it doesn't dominate the comic book completely, I would recommend the new issues over the old ones both for being a better buy and for containing better stories. The latest issue of Eightball includes a complex and intelligent story titled Gynecology. Among other things, the plot line concerns a young artists who finds success in the big city by painting reproductions of the racial stereotype illustrations of the 1930's. Although the story is free standing it explores several of Clowes' central themes such as: the interplay between art and commercialism, self-fabricated images, and sexual inhibitions. Eightball is denser and deeper than Hate. But, despite this, it contains much of the same misanthropic humor and relevant commentary as well as the little arrows that explain details.
Both comic books are published by Seattle's Fantagraphics Books which is responsible for the bulk of the quality comic books on the market. The company was founded in 1981 and quickly gained notoriety for its, recently discontinued, Love and Rockets series written and illustrated by the Hernandez brothers. In addition to dozens of current titles Fatagraphics has republished classic comics like Popeye and Li'l Abner, as well as the complete work by Robert Crumb, the godfather of underground "comix". (Terry Zwigoff's 1995 documentary on the artist and his mentally disturbed family, titled Crumb, available at Casa Video, is an excellent film in its own right.)
Other publishers of quality comics include, among many others, Drawn and Quarterly and, surprisingly enough, Penguin. The latter publishing house has come out with an impressive anthology called Twisted Sisters: A Collection of Bad Girl Art. Robert Crumb's wife Aline Kominsky-Crumb and M. K. Brown, who does those mutating faces on MTV, are both represented in this impressive comics tomb.
Once in the comic book store, don't let the life sized superhero posters scare or embarrass you! Move beyond them to the "independent titles" shelf (or whatever they're calling it) and discover the world of graphic narrative art!
Good comic book stores: Captain Spiffy's (on University Boulevard, half a block from campus) and Fantasy Comics on 3100 N. Stone Ave. To order directly from Fantagraphics call 1-800-657-1100.
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