by Joel Priddy
ISBN: 0972179402
This graphic novel has an unusual format; it is a small rectangle, about the size (but not the thickness) of a mass-market paperback. The oddness runs from the front cover through to the end of the book.
I mean oddness in a good way. The story has three main characters, who just happen to be animal (bull), mineral (rowbot) and vegetable (delaware thistle). Bull really is a bull, well one that walks upright and has human feet, anyway. Rowbot looks as much old-fashioned hobo as he does high tech machine, except for the goldfish swimming in the bowl that forms the back of his head. Delaware thistle is a slender, naked spiky-leaf-haired plant-man.
The story follows the three protagonists on their literal journey, with flashbacks fleshing out the character’s personal, inner journeys. So really what the book is about is love, loss, sex, dreams, society, and the search for meaning.
Priddy’s art is compelling and playful: strong brushstrokes, effective crosshatching, good use of shadows and switching perspectives. The images are all black and white, except for the flashback sequences which are printed in what seems to be a 90 percent screen, visually setting them apart from the main narrative. Bull’s speech is rendered in balloons so that he really sounds like a cow. The other lettering is done in a clear, printed hand.
I liked the way the story was divided into chapters, and that each main character’s past was delved into. The ending is one of those ambigous-yet-fitting things, leaving the reader room to think, and probably flip back to the beginning of the book to read again.
There is a blurb on the back cover from Craig Thompson (Good-bye Chunky Rice); I think fans of James Kochalka’s Magic Boy would probably also enjoy this book. It won the 2002 Ignatz Debut Award. Recommended.
This review was also posted to Four Color Hell, a comics weblog.
