The Other Alien is all messiah about this book. I agree with the Other Alien.
This was an impulse buy. I went shopping looking specifically for a one shot comic that wasn't about superheros, or great epic battles, or anything that wasn't the norm of life. I wanted a story that might have mabye reflected this pointless struggle I have with the mediocre humdrum of life, a story that wouldn't patronise me and wouldn't offer false hope or comfort, an ordinary story about ordinary people who don't have happy endings.
This isn't quite what I was looking for, it was better.
Josh has a shit life. He lives in a trailer with his no-good mother and three younger siblings of different fathers, and does most of the parenting, and has to deal with school, you know, school...and then his mother goes and kills her current squeeze, and he's left to deal with the body. Unfortunately, the body just won't stay buried, neither will any of the secrets, and what little control he had over his life is slipping away.
And Josh is just a teenage kid in over his head, and he doesn't have special friends, lucky breaks, convenient powers, a place to retreat to, and he isn't coping, it isn't fair, and he's angry.
And that was refreshing.
Maybe I'm looking in all the wrong places, listening to the wrong conversations, but lately, all I've seen is people doing their best to cheer others up, insist that the person in strife look on the bright side, and be grateful for what they have. Perhaps. In time, maybe.
It's not my approach, mostly because it shits me to tears when someone tries that on me. It's as though there is some unspoken rule that anger is bad. It is, but it isn't wrong. None of us like being powerless, and most of us don't accept that politely. If you want to be angry, then go, be angry. And when you've ranted and yelled and spent it all, then you can go on with life, pick up the pieces, and start again.
This is a very well written book. It's solid, full of real people who say real and stupid things, do real and stupid things, and don't cope with life. There are no clever answers, easy solutions and neat resolutions. There isn't a happy ending. But, the end is a better place than the beginning, and I think that's all we can really hope for.
Verdict: Excellent. Good, good stuff. Well crafted, in terms of writing and art. Muchly worth your time.
I might have to read that.
ReplyDeleteCos right now, I am *angry*.
*snugs*
ReplyDeleteI also forgot to mention that it dealt with another facet of having a crap life - the people who want to help. The people who think they can help. Good intentions is rarely enough, and in Josh's case, a might-be girlfriend bites off far more than she can chew, and has to deal with the fact that words won't help him in the slightest, and that, when it comes down to it, she doesn't know if she wants to involve herself in the mess.
That was also refreshing. It isn't something I see often, in fiction or otherwise, the acknowledgement that someone wants to help, and at the same time, wants to protect themselves and stay the fuck away.