R.I.P.

Atlas by Dylan Horrocks

The new issue of Dylan Horrocks' Atlas came out this last week. I have been impatiently waiting for this new issue for quite a while now. Mr Horrocks has been one of my favorite comics artists for many years now, and if you've ever read Hicksville, you might have an idea why. I've seen Mr Horrocks post on the internet that he is interested in creative works that engage in "world building," and Hicksville and this new series certainly seem to do just that.

Atlas is an ongoing series with a main feature and a back-up in each issue. The main story, "Atlas," is subtitled "The Life of Emil Kópen" and this second issue continues to slowly build a world that includes its own language and its own form of comics. This series seems to be building on the themes Horrocks introduced in Hicksville. He even includes a technique from Hicksville that relates the comics and creators in Horrocks' world to creators with which the reader is already familiar, a quote at the beginning of each chapter. These quotes also refer to the story at hand like the Charles Schulz quote at the beginning of this chapter: "The brave man has the courage of the early morning."

Mr Horrock's art is masterful. He has a supple brush line, and a skill for page layout and spotting blacks. He has a few idiosyncracies, formidable noses, heavy eyebrows and heavy black eyes, but these just distinguish his art rather than detract from it. A Dylan Horrocks character looks like a Dylan Horrocks character, which helps to immerse you in the worlds he is creating.



Do yourself a favor and check out this title, or Hicksville if you prefer, but don't overlook a future master of the medium in a strong time of creative growth.

Paris by Andi Watson and Simon Gane

I haven't been very good about updating, but I'm trying to get back on track. In the interest of momentum, my next few posts will probably not be very in depth. Here's a book that I grabbed off the top of my to-blog-about pile. It is a mini-series from Slave Labor Graphics, and issue number two has just been released.

I have enjoyed all the Andi Watson works that I've read in the last several years, and when I saw that he was teaming up with the little known Simon Gane, I was really looking forward to this title. I'd originally run across Mr Gane's work in mini-comics about ten years ago, and hadn't seen much since. I found one book, All Flee, about a year ago, but it wasn't really story material that had much appeal for me. So learning that a story about two young girls, one an artist, in turn of the century Paris (my second favorite European city), I was excited, and quickly added it to my subscription list.

I am going to reserve any complete judgment on it at this point, other than to say that I'm enjoying it and that I recommended heartily for anyone who is looking for a book written by one of the best slice-of-life writers around and drawn by one of the truly unique artists working in comics. The sample panel above is indicative of the idiosyncratic style of the artwork, and is a breath of fresh air in the all-too-frequently stolid comic artwork found in your average indy title.

Check it out.