‘My Friend Dahmer’ by Derf Backderf
Posted on April 22, 2012 by Cathy Camper in Illustrated, Reviews
At a writer’s pitch recently, a literary agent cautioned that the market for memoirs had become flooded, and publishers were only interested in gripping, unique stories. I flashed back on that when I heard about Derf Backderf’s book My Friend Dahmer (Abrams ComicArts)– you can’t beat “I went to high school with a gay serial killer, and I want to do a graphic novel about it” when you’re talking gripping, unique memoir. (more…)
‘Zakkum: A Graphic Murder Mystery’ by Beldan Sezen
Posted on April 3, 2012 by Cathy Camper in Illustrated, Reviews
One of the ways graphic novels can be employed is to unravel a family secret. Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home is probably the classic example of this. Beldan Sezen’s work is less polished than Bechdel’s, but she too uses the medium to great effect. (more…)
‘A Waste of Time’ by Rick Worley
Posted on January 31, 2012 by Cathy Camper in Illustrated, Reviews
OK, so Christmas and Chanukah have come and gone. But there’s always New Year’s, and for all your friends who break their New Year’s resolutions not to drink and slut around the minute the clock hand slides to twelve-oh-one, give them this book when the hangover hits. Rick Worley’s comics are the perfect hair of the dog for the month of January.
Now, I’m not a fan of funny animal comics for grownups. Huey, Dewey and Louie are fine for rugrats, but if you’re old enough to balance a martini glass, it’s time to evolve to two legs instead of four. With an attitude like this, I welcomed StevieD and EvilJeff’s foreword which explained to me, “Rick Worley has geniously realized that he can show gays at their worst if they look like cute bunnies, robots and teddy bears. …he’s one of the few faggots out there telling the truth. He doesn’t hold back.”
Furthermore, they add: “He’s unafraid to reveal the true motivations of the artist as an unfulfilled porn-hound. Showing us what really drives him. And what really drives the artist? Self-pity.”
Caravaggio and Michelangelo as horndogs feeling sorry for themselves? What a great theory! If you feel like “an outcast among gay outcasts,” and cringe at how gay marriage, gay parenting and gay suburbanization denies queerness of its debauchery, Worley’s cartoons are for you.
This is the tale of a big-headed narrator bunny, a sex-n-drug crazed fox, a teddy bear best friend, and ill-fated robot lovers that drink, smoke weed, look at porn, bonk guys and snort things they later regret. Or not.
The bunny (I guess he’s a bunny – every time I look at his head, it’s so butt-shaped I can’t help but think of the punch line for that old joke…Gotta match? Yeah your face and my ass!) is Worley’s stand-in, an artist obsessed with twinks who are younger, dumber and prettier than him. The bunny uses his drawing skills as a pick-up trick, meeting young guys, inviting them home to pose, art modeling digressing to sex. It’s odd seeing realistic-looking guys conversing with cartoon animals, even more unnerving seeing them inter-porking. It’s not sexy, but it’s hella funny.
What aresexy are the full-size drawings Worley drops into his comic, allowing us peruse the bunny’s drawing pad, interrupting the cartoon with the art of the unfulfilled pornhound. And guess what? That art is beautiful. Revelation.
A Waste Of Time
One astute comic pretty much sums this book up. It shows the bunny chatting with his twink friend, explaining the sculpture of Michelangelo’s called “Victory,” depicting an older man pinned under a younger man’s knee.
“The thing is, almost purely by his youth and beauty, the young man has complete power over the other man, whether the other man resists or not,” explains the bunny. Later he concludes, “…I don’t think artists write about what they’re compelled to do by their love or lust except in the context of their helplessness in the face of their desires, or their own victimization.” The twink replies, “And do you have life experiences that compel you to write like that?”
A Waste of Time
Rick Worley
Northwest Press
Paperback, 9780984594030, 136pp
December 2011
‘A + e 4ever’ by Ilike Merey
Posted on November 30, 2011 by Cathy Camper in Illustrated, Reviews
A + e 4ever (Lethe Press) is a graphic novel set in an arena far tougher than a Roman coliseum; this story takes place in high school. Asher Machnik is a sensitive, beautiful boy, whose androgynous looks attract some (mostly girls) and infuriate others (mostly homophobic bullies). His beatings, both physical and psychological, by both peers and family, have taken their toll; Asher is terrified of being touched. (more…)
‘Three #2″ edited by Rob Kirby
Posted on October 24, 2011 by Cathy Camper in Illustrated, Reviews
One of the problems with comics anthologies is that they aren’t always good. You’re forced to plod through a lot of not-so-talented and amateur creations, in hopes of discovering one or two slivers of greatness. Famous artists contribute to the call for work, but instead of crafting new, exciting stuff, they dig through their closet and pawn off B-grade comics that no one else would publish, because they know a small publisher will slobber over their big name. It’s rare to find compilations that are as carefully constructed, drawn and written as artist’s individual monograms. (more…)
‘Gay Genius’ edited by Annie Murphy
Posted on September 6, 2011 by Cathy Camper in Illustrated, Reviews
Gay Genius comes with its own definition at the back of the book. The Romans thought genius was a guardian spirit, but it also means an influential person or one with high mental ability. Readers are given sample usage as well: “Your gay genius astounds me” or “ Last night my gay genius appeared to me in a dream.” (more…)
‘Rainy Day Recess’ by David Kelly
Posted on August 3, 2011 by Cathy Camper in Illustrated, Reviews, Young Adult
While scientists argue over the causes of sexual orientation, most gay kids know at an early age (or are quickly made aware) they’re gender non-conforming, and their attraction towards the same sex also begins in childhood.
But children’s literature is still pretty squeamish about admitting this. (more…)
‘Gaylord Phoenix’ by Edie Fake
Posted on March 10, 2011 by Cathy Camper in Comics, Illustrated, Reviews
Reading the comic Gaylord Phoenix (Secret Acres) is a little like watching a psychedelic silent movie, or dropping acid. Unlike talkies, or mainstream comics, or real life, this story is told more in pictures than in words. Like in silent films, words and dialog are static insertions between blooming, exploding images.
And like tripping, the plot — what you the audience get out of the experience — has more to do with how you uniquely read the images you see, as opposed to following a predisposed script. (more…)
‘Shades of Love’ by Dimitris Yeros
Posted on February 17, 2011 by Aaron Krach in Illustrated, Reviews
Photographs Inspired by the Poems of C.P. Cavafy
Many gay authors and artists hold a special place for the poems of C. P. Cavafy (1863-1933). E.M. Forester, Edward Albee, David Hockney, Duane Michaels, and Edmund White love the gay poet—openly gay before coming out was even “coming out.” (more…)
