Whither the humble alternative
comic book? R. Crumb gave birth to the form in the sixties, selling his
self-published ZAP comix out of a
baby carriage in the Haight. It entered arrested adolescence with Peter Bagge’s
Hate in the nineties, and achieved
maturity at the turn of the century. Now nearing 50, the idiom is in danger of
a premature death. Affectionately known as floppies or pamphlets in the
industry, changing economics and readership trends threaten the existence of
these once-essential relics of American counterculture.
Optic Nerve #12 - Adrian Tomine (w/a)
Drawn & Quarterly, $5.95
Now arrives Adrian Tomine’s Optic Nerve #12, one of but a handful of
highly crafted alternative comix still published. This issue is a throwback in
many ways, with a main story, a couple of back-ups, and a letters page — two
pages in this case, and no e-mail address. Actual letters posted by mail. The
comic opens with “A Brief History of the Art Form Known as Hortisculpture”
presented in a faux-serial format. This light but engaging read is followed by
“Amber Sweet,” a beautifully rendered account of mistaken identity. This
alluring story first appeared as “My Porno Doppelganger” in Kramer’s Ergot #7, the spectacularly
oversized anthology that assured the demise of Buenaventura Press (suicide by
book, it seemed). While this slightly altered version adds little to the
previous format, the $5.95 cover price for Optic
Nerve — while steep for a pamphlet — is far more accessible than the $125
anthology.
Tomine’s comic concludes with a
two-pager that reads like an obituary of alternative comix pamphlets. His
colleagues ridicule him as “The Last Pamphleteer.” They encourage him to cash
in on the “gold rush” and boast about commanding huge advances for their new
“graphic novels” (ugh). He laments the lack of publisher support for his Optic Nerve effort, and quotes a 2010
NPR interview with Daniel Clowes: “Nobody wants to sell that floppy thing that,
you know, gets all bent on the shelf… No bookstore wants to carry it because
the profit margin is so low. You know, everybody hates them. So I just felt
like, ‘Why continue with this?’”
The Death Ray - Daniel Clowes (w/a)
Drawn & Quartlerly, $19.95, ISBN: 978-1770460515
As if on cue, with the deft
timing of a Catskill comedian, Drawn & Quarterly follows Optic Nerve #12 with The Death-Ray by Daniel Clowes. This
“graphic novel” is nothing more than Eightball
#23 between cardboard covers. The only discernable difference is the price.
The Fantagraphics “floppy” was $7.00, as opposed to the hefty $19.95 for the
“graphic novel.” This is not because “Nobody wants to carry that floppy thing…”
Or, “You know, everybody hates them.” Fantagraphics sold out two substantial
printings of Eightball #23. It’s
greed, pure and simple; a “gold rush” mentality that threatens the integrity of
the “graphic novel” form, and with it the viability of alternative comix
altogether. And what’s with the once innovative Drawn & Quarterly reducing
itself to reprinting other publishers’ product and tripling the price? When Eightball #23 came out, I wrote Clowes a
fan letter (an actual letter, posted by mail). But I hope this edition flops.
The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror #17 - Jim Woodring (w/a), Zander Cannon (w), Gene Ha (a), Jane Wiedlin (w), Tom Hodges (a)
Bongo Comics, $4.99
Perhaps the salvation of
alternative comix floppies can be found elsewhere. While The Simpsons have so
permeated popular culture they hardly merit the “alternative” designation, once
a year Matt Groening turns over his valuable comic book franchise to alternative
cartoonists. The Simpsons’ Treehouse of
Horror #17 features a substantial contribution from none other than Jim
Woodring. In his cleverly crafted story, Bart discovers
a shopworn copy of E.C. horror comic knockoff “Harvest of Fear” at a yard sale
and all hell breaks loose. Woodring works within The Simpsons canon while
cleverly incorporating his own idiosyncratic sensibilities. Integrated within
the narrative are stories from the found comic (drawn by Woodring’s talented
son Max). Our mischievous protagonist
sets out to solve the mid-century mystery of one of these fables and discovers
the last page is the missing piece. No spoilers here. Go get the comic book,
which includes an amusing back up story by alternative comix fan and Go-Gos
guitarist Jane Wiedlin. Only $4.99.
— Larry
Reid
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