Hosive

just like there’s indie music and indie movies, there are indie comics…not(always)for the masses…but unique stories told by people with singular vision.  back in the day, there were two major indie comics conventions….one on the west coast in sf and one on the east coast in bethesda, md. for 11 years, i happened to live nearby the one in md and went nearly every year. these days, there are a few more shows across the country trying to develop their own following but the small press expo in maryland will always be special to us. we’ve been going the last few years after a short hiatus after our move to nyc.

the show features some more established artists….here is steve lieber who will become more mainstream once the movie whiteout comes out. i’ve also met frank miller, art spiegelman, jeff smith, and paul pope at this con….

it also features up and coming artists such as dash shaw who wrote and drew bottomless belly button declared by new york magazine as the graphic novel of the year….it also got great press from lots of national publications……its cool to meet and greet these guys before they become more famous….at least in the comic universe…..

we also get to hang with old friends like local artist mark burrier who we’ve connected with and gotten sketches from for years. we are his small time patrons buying comics, prints and shirts to support his art. theresa really loves his t’s and sports them regularly.

this time, the big ticket artist featured was one of my favorites….jason lutes. i’ve followed him for over ten year first with his moving jar of fools graphic novels about a down and out magician. and now on his epic decade long(and longer)production of berlin.

in honor of the small press expo, no superheroes this time for my reviews(most indie comics deal with topics non-superhero)but here are reviews of books available at the small press expo. i start with jason lutes’ berlin.

berlin is about…..(i’ll let the blurb on the back of the book tell it): a captivating trilogy set in the twilight years of germany’s weimar republic. the first book covers eight months in berlin from september 1928 to may day 1929…documenting the hopes and struggles of its inhabitants as their future is darkened by a growing shadow. the second book creates a seamless, street level portrait of their city as tension builds between communist and national socialist, jew and gentile, and the dawn of the second world war draws closer.

pretty heady stuff! accompanied by crisp, clean beautiful art.

i love comics(and movies)about cities or how a city is a character in a story. to the un-initiated, think about a movie where the city plays a major role….sometimes when i visit a city, i watch a few movies set in that city. think of your favorite nyc movies, sf movies, los angeles movies…this is your pre world war two berlin story.

this is a textured journey through the tangled lives of a large cast of characters living in berlin during that time. they capture the wide range of life in the city from the devout to the depraved….finding beauty in the zeniths and nadirs of humanity. an extraordinary achievement.

people might complain….that nothing happens! well that’s life….and its not that nothing happens….it just happens really slowly…and a whole lot of nothing in between. but that’s life too. it captures one slice of time in a city. and there’s nothing else like it in comics…and that’s good news, bad news to people. it depends on who you are. but its 100% art. and i love art…..stuff people produce because they just have to….leaving you wondering where these ideas come from(as a theology dude, i suspect that inspiration originates from a spark of/from god).

the series started in 2001 and its been almost eight years….it will be finished in another 8 years. truly an epic effort. the power of the medium of comics is showcased in telling this kind of story. comics are not just the funny pages for below average readers with bad social skills…..it can be literary, sophisticated and cosmopolitan.

up next is exit wounds by rutu modan. another book set in a city(or too)not too familiar to westerners. here’s the blurb from the back….in modern tel aviv, a young man receives an urgent phone call from a female soldier named numi; learning that his estranged father may have been a victim of a suicide bombing in hadera. as they unravel the mystery, the young man finds himself not only piecing together those last few months of his father’s life but his entire identity.

the jewish daily forward says this about it: exit wounds makes wry comments about classism and sexism in israeli society, the matter of factness of living with terrrorism, and how personal and political inevitably interwine.

its a mystery! its a love story! its a exploration of how our parents influenced us! its a snapshot of living in modern day israel under the threat of terrorism….perhaps a preview of life for us in the states?

its executed very well and feels very human. it affirms the deep things in life. more art!! yay!

finally, too cool to be forgotten is a time warp trip as middle aged andy wicks finally tries hypnosis to help him to quit smoking. but instead, he gets transported back to 1985…back to his high school days! and he gets to live his life over again. faced with the same choices with a head full of wisdom, what will he choose? what will he do with a second choice? this is both a meditation on our teenage years and our middle aged years.

alex robinson has been a favorite of ours during our small press expo days with box office poison and tricked!….real life with real nuance; slice of everyman everyday is his specialty. executed with charm and magic.

maybe for next time….more superheroes!

Posted under comics, forbidden planet chronicles