Issue: #2
Release: December 1994
Writer and Artist: Chester Brown
Store: Drawn and Quarterly (Montreal)
Image via Atomic Books
The idea for this book is clever. The story is told from the perspective of two baby twin girls. The language they hear from their parents is, for the most part, gibberish. Occasionally, though, recognizable English words creep in to reflect their increasing comprehension.
Particularly for a story of young life, the atmosphere is quite dark. Brown's minimalist style and dark backgrounds provide a different world from the idealized view we usually see of parenting and childhood. Of course, this is not a book for children. While the joys of parenthood are numerous, those of us who have been through the wars know that there can be long stretches of loneliness, tedium and frustration. Rarely do stories portray the very real struggles to communicate with a non-verbal entity.
In the end, one book is enough for me. Apparently, other readers felt the same way. Brown abandoned the project unfinished after the eleventh issue in 1997.
Image via The Adventures of Mr. Phil
Flip the book over and a second story is offered from the back cover, upside-down: a comic interpretation of the Book of Matthew, verses 12:46-13:58. A biblical scholar, I am not. Also, I generally prefer to avoid religious and political topics on my blog but this is too fascinating an idea to ignore. From an artistic perspective, there's not much here to either inspire or offend. The material is presented without embellishment. With the comic's discontinuation, so ended the adaptation of Matthew. Issue #11 carried the gospel through 20:29.
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My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find single-issue comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z. Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge. The official site is here.
Hey, friend... what an interesting concept... yes, sounds too dark for me, as well. Don't think it would make for "light reading", eh?
ReplyDeleteAs for interpreting the Book of Matthew in a comic version... nothing funny about Matthew (we used to call comic books 'funny books'). Thank you for a very thought-provoking post. Best regards to you, Ruby
I agree - nothing funny about Matthew and this interpretation does not attempt to make it so. Chester Brown is good at a lot of things but, at least in my experience, he's not very good at funny.
DeleteThe idea of adapting the Bible in graphic novel form hasn't gone away. Just this past weekend, I saw one that covered the entire Old Testament plus the Book of Revelation.
Both sound pretty interesting.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely different. Underwater was not been combined into a trade publication but the individual issues are available from D&Q.
DeleteSomething about the (back) cover art on the book of Matthew really appeals to me. Having a hard time putting my finger on it.
ReplyDeleteVery nicely-articulated thoughts on 'Underwater.'
I like it, too. In fact, I might go so far as to say that the back cover is my favorite part of the issue. Interestingly, the picture doesn't seem to have much to do with the contents within - either in style or subject.
DeleteThose sound like something I'd like to flip through, be intrigued by, and put back on the shelf.
ReplyDeleteI admire the artistic effort here, but for the most part I agree with your assessment.
DeleteMy initial thoughts about the first part had to do with reputed cases of twins developing a unique, private language of their own -- but then I realized it's more about infants not yet understanding any language yet. :-)
ReplyDeleteThe second part I assumed (from the back cover) covered the temptation in the desert -- the devil being my guess for that wild-haired personage. But that's not what's in those chapters...
I thought so, too, regarding the twin-speak. But plot synopses of the later issues indicate a different direction entirely.
DeleteI believe it was Brown's initial plan to do all four gospels so you may be right about the temptation.
'That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9Whoever has ears, let them hear.”'
DeleteThe being on the cover looks like a sower, not a devil. I like the look of him/her. And their untamed hair.
Sower makes sense - seeds falling out of his/her hand, rather than sand.
DeleteYup. I shoulda clicked on it to see the bigger version!
DeleteI think we have a winner.
DeleteYou have an award over at SC, Armchair Squid.
ReplyDeleteSo unexpected!
Delete