David Lapham (Lapham, illust.)
It started off strong and innocent--think Blue Monday, in their twenties, set against a mystery. But the promise of lighthearted fun in the first issue has given way to something else entirely; it's downright twisted. By the forth issue, we have dismemberment, infidelity, sex addiction, drug addiction, anorexia, you get the idea. In the third issue, the curtain was being pulled back, and we were beginning to glimpse the characters' true and ugly selves. This issue upped the ante. We see them now for the debaucherous, lecherous assholes that they all are. The protagonist is, well, no longer the protagonist, and any hope for a romantic ending has been, well, cut off. The only character left in good standing is Sadie, who is quickly taking the place of the narrator as the real protagonist in this story.
Of course, as the the characters descend into debauchery and chaos, so too does the form and pacing. It's becoming difficult to follow who said what and which panel goes where. I guess I can appreciate mimesis as well as the next liberal arts student, and Lapham's clever with it, but the frenetic and chaotic pacing and structure is getting a little difficult on my eyes and there's no end in sight.
If you haven't got it already, don't. Wait for a bit. If it's good by the time the first trade is out, I'll recommend it. It's too early to see if this will end up a gratuitous mess or something genuinely interesting.
Brian Wood (Ryan Kelly, illust.)
Put out by Minx (I think), The New York Four is aimed pretty squarely at late-teen girls. That said, it does a fairly good job of avoiding the more obnoxious tropes associated with that kind of genre writing and doesn't feel patronizing or over-reaching. Wood knows how to write female characters; his love for and knowledge of New York is both endearing and grounding; he shows--accurately and almost nostalgically--the struggles of that strange late-teen life; and Kelly (Wood's partner on Local) is as able as ever--seamlessly working with Wood. Wood's description of the teenage child of the overly-educated was pretty flawless, and I admire his ability to shift from Viking blood and gore (Northlanders to this so well.
It's good, don't get me wrong. But it feels like the weaker, watered-down thematic sibling of Local. If you want to read something of Wood's that doesn't involve geopolitical mechanations or Viking wars, go with Local which is great, not just good.
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