Word: comix
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Chester Brown lives the dream. Making comix on his own terms since 1986, the 44-year-old Canadian has bucked his fans' expectations more times than a crazy lover, and managed to make a living doing it. Now, with the publication of his graphic novel, "Louis Riel," he not only has a hit, but also the accolades of the industry...
...brief history: Brown's first series, "Yummy Fur" appeared during a surge in the popularity of black and white, independent comix. Collected as the howlingly funny and surreal graphic novel "Ed the Happy Clown," those early issues were canonized as a highlight of 80s graphic literature. Then Brown did something unexpected: He radically changed the format of "Yummy Fur," using it for an autobiographical exploration whose nakedness caused many fans to cringe and slink away. Still, Brown soon found himself leading an "autobio" trend in the medium. Never one to stick to trends, after an aborted fictional project that featured...
...went to art school in the interim. I went for a year, and then quit and went back down to New York and was rejected again, although again encouragingly so. But that was around the time I was losing interest in superhero comics anyway. I started self-publishing mini-comix in 1983. Then, in 1986 Vortex comics approached me to start publishing "Yummy Fur." I quit the day job I had at that point, working in a photo reproduction place. In 1988, the black and white boom was over so I got a part-time job that...
...This mood of "Foodboy" develops chiefly from Swain's remarkable comix pacing. She uses slam cuts to jump from one time and place to another, in mid-page with no visual cues, keeping you guessing about where and when a scene takes place. It's the kind of pleasant discombobulation you get from a midway hall of mirrors. You feel your way through. Swain also frequently inserts mute sequences that feel like poetic interludes. The narrative breathes. Her "camera" swirls around its subjects while they do nothing more than walk and light a cigarette. Each frame of a Carol Swain...
...Carol Swain has one of the most unique and compelling styles in comix. "Foodboy" will give you the chills. Even the cover features a depopulated, snowy landscape with a trail of footprints leading off into the distance. Cool and natural, it perfectly represents the book: a muted pastoral that holds within it an unquiet human heart...