CWR WEEKEND BLOG EXTRA

Time for my favorite feature! This week, some new efforts from Fantagraphics!

First, WISH YOU WERE HERE #2, written and drawn by Gipi. This book comes from the Ignatz line of over-sized “pamphlets”, and is really an excellent effort. Subtitled “They Found The Car”, the story follows a man roused from his sleep by a former colleague in crime. The car used in a crime many years ago has surfaced, and punishment must be dealt to the man who was supposed to have made sure it would never be seen again. Along the way the men debate religion and the nature of faith, and the sleeping man must make a decision that will affect his future and the fate of his immortal soul. WISH YOU WERE HERE reads like the bastard child of Goddard and Tarantino, and I recommend it highly.

Next from the Ignatz line is INSOMNIA #2, written and drawn by Matt Broersma. “The Lock” is the story of two people whose lives and insecurities intersect in bizarre ways. One track follows an older gentleman as he wanders off to eat breakfast and read the morning paper, and the other involves a burlesque dancer confused about the romantic potential of a wealthy man who’s pursuing her. It is only after the older man mistakes her for the reincarnation of a former lover (or a lover that he has imagined so deeply that she’s ingrained in his memory as real) that you begin to see the fragility of these two peoples’ realities. But in the end, the question of what’s true and what isn’t turns out to be unimportant. What’s important is that an examination of the characters reveals that they’re simply as screwed as the rest of us, and happiness will continue to avoid them.

Also dropping from the Ignatz line is BABEL #2, written and drawn by David B. BABEL follows the young narrator through his childhood obsession with how the rest of the world does and does not make war. Spurred on by an article in PARIS MATCH that discussed one African tribe’s declared end to any kind of warfare, the narrator and his brother began exploring the nature of the outside world, and how most people tend to only learn about other cultures by watching how they make war and deal with conflict. Later in the book, the narrator recounts his brother’s deterioration to a form of epilepsy that is untreatable, teaching him about a different kind of war, the kind that can never be won. Everything here is technically proficient, but I never got fully engaged on an emotional level the way I did with INSOMNIA and WISH YOU WERE HERE, because in the end, the narrative feels a little too detached.

Rounding out the column is HATE ANNUAL #6, written and drawn by Peter Bagge. Anytime we get to see Buddy Bradley again, it’s a good thing, and this is no exception. The lead story, “Skeletons in the Closet” follows Buddy as he tries to keep some dirty deeds done in the past quiet, and his solution is amusing and ingenious, perfectly in tune with the character we’ve come to know over these years. Bagge also throws in a hilarious parody of the dreaded “Cosmo Quiz” titled “Are You a Cunt?” that anyone who’s ever taken one of those insipid magazine tests will get a good laugh out of. The only downside to this book is the inclusion of a ton of Bagge’s “The Adventures of Bat Boy” strips that he produced for WEEKLY WORLD NEWS. I’ve never found the strip amusing or thought that it had one-tenth of the spirit and edge that HATE does, and nothing about these efforts changed my mind. Still, new HATE is always cause for celebration.

See you through the week for site updates and back here next weekend for a new CWR WEEKEND BLOG EXTRA!

/Mason