The Bruiser

 

by Jim Tully, Mark Dawidziak (Introduction), Paul J. Bauer (Introduction)

Publisher ‏: ‎ The Kent State University Press / Black Squirrel Books (June 7th, 2010)

Softcover, 248 pages

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“A battalion of huge, black and white clouds moved slowly up from the west and completely obscured the blazing sun for a moment. It burned through them, more appallingly hot than ever. A sprinkle of rain, not dried by the blazing sun, fell over the audience of a hundred and fifty thousand.

“A box containing the new gloves was brought into the ring. The bandages were adjusted.

“Managers and chief seconds handed them from one to the other. Sully’s second took a pair and twisted them about, then stopped to wipe his face with a handkerchief. He quickly put the piece of linen in the neck of his collarless jersey shirt, and jammed his right hand into the glove. Taking his hand out and twisting the glove again, he fitted it on Sully’s outstretched paw.”

Jim Tully, along with Dashiell Hammet, was the creator of the hard-boiled style of American writing. This style was later picked up and refined by Ernest Hemingway, H. L. Mencken, and Raymond Chandler, but Tully stands out from all these others. They simply wrote in the style. He lived it. The introduction describes him as the biggest longshot in American literature. Growing up poor, abandoned by his family to an orphanage, Tully spent much time tramping about as a bum, a circus hand, and -for a short time - a boxer.

Original Cover for The Bruiser

Originally published in 1936, The Bruiser may have been one of Tully’s more successful novels - at least successful enough to be reprinted several times over the next few decades. Though his true success seems to come from his autobiographical works, The Bruiser was the exception to the rule. If there is one flaw, which many modern readers have pointed out, is the uneven flow of the narrative. It is choppy, like a rough cut piece of ice, and sometimes jolting as the action jerks the reader into an area, brings up a plot point, and then resolves it behind the scenes.

Tully wanted this to be as realistic a picture of boxing life as is possible, hence the irregular action. And I must admit he succeeded. It is a very knowledgeable look at boxing, complete with punchy old boxers, sleazy rip-off managers, and the general corruption which has been always associated with the sport. This is all wrapped around the traditional story of a young man going up the ranks of his chosen sport, and wondering if it is with all the trouble.

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Original Bantam Book Cover

Lost Girl (Drama)

by Nabiel Kanan

Publisher : Nbm Pub Co (March 1, 1999)

Softcover, 96 pages

Amazon Listing

While on vacation with her parents in the British countryside, an inexperienced teenager, Beth, becomes fascinated with an older girl who lives on the edges of society. Her new, nameless pal sleeps with strangers, steals cars, breaks in and loots the tourist’s summer cottages. But is she real, or some sort of Tyler Durden hallucination?

This stranger ignites an adolescent rebelliousness within Beth, but no sooner does she smoke her first joint and ride bareback on a horse, than the vacation comes to an end. The real world is beckoning her back to duties and responsibilities; homework and chores. The friend disappears, leaving one to wonder if this spirit of restlessness has taken residence within Beth. The ending seems to suggest so.

A lot of people seem to dislike this book, but I say it is a competent work, if deliberately understated. It feels real, even with the possibly supernatural elements, and not overly dramatic, angsty nonsense one often sees on these entering puberty stories. The art is both sparse, yet deep, perfectly blending with the material. I felt this was a fine execution of the material, despite what other reviewers have said.

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Skyscrapers Of The Midwest (Drama)

 

by Joshua Cotter (Author, Artist)

Publisher : AdHouse Books; 1st Edition (June 10, 2008)

Hardcover, 244 pages

Amazon Listing

I used to collect some of the issues of this comic back in the day. They stuck out because of their unusual shape, the lack of a glossy cover, and the nearly double the amount of material than the average comic. I always seems to find a copy tossed in some half-off long box at the ass-end of a dingy shop or buried in a bin under a table at a convention. This is how I found a copy of the hardback collection of all eight issues - under a table at a discount oldies store, above which was displayed the more popular trash of the moment. Boy, those who don’t look below sure miss out.

Skyscrapers of the Midwest is best described as the winding tale of a young cat, his little brother, and the creeping shadow of imminent adolescence in the American heartland. The book contains a series of heartbreaking vignettes as the two boys slowly and painfully begin to put away their childish things and embrace the bland realism of adult life. That is such a pity as the worlds conjured within their imaginations brim with excitement and adventure, with a tint of tragedy bleeding in around the seams. The story is as much symbolic as it is literally making the entire experience something unique to dwell on.

Others have said that the overall theme and tone of the series, ie. the pitfalls and uncertainties of adolescence has been done before. Which is true, but then what hasn’t been done before. This story rings with authentication. Any young boy can relate to one of the events from some time in their life. Great and sad simultaneously.

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Bottomless Belly Button (Drama)

 

by Dash Shaw

Publisher : Fantagraphics Books; Illustrated edition (June 3, 2008)

Softcover, 720 pages

Amazon Listing

It’s a 700 page book about pain, about the loss of love, about the uncertainties of life, about the death of dreams, and the joy of kindling new relationships. Dash Shaw has created a book which runs the gambit around all aspects of life and encapsulated it into a six day vacation at the beach. Dysfunction breeds dysfunction as we see parents have passed on terrible traits to their offspring who are starting to pass those same evils onto their children. Some critics have pointed out that this type of story has been done before - but then if everyone happy in a family story, where’s the drama coming from? As Tolstoy wrote, “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”   -Just this in Amazon and Goodreads.

After 40-some years of marriage, two aged parents shock their children by stating they are getting divorced.  This sparks a weeklong stay at their possibly haunted beach house, while the children grapple in their various ways about this news. Rich with atmospheric sequences, the family stumbles blindly around one another, often ignoring their surroundings and consumed by their own daily conflicts.

The reasons for the divorce are unclear. It’s hinted that it is at the instigation of the grandmother who felt trapped in their marriage because of the children and now can cut herself free, but is she doing so because she wants to, or because she feels she should want to? Her actions demonstrate that she is nearly incapable of dealing with the minor inconveniences of life, not to mention the big decisions. The variations of responses by the children range from absolute disbelief, to understanding, to indifference. Each character is unique and together they create a kaleidoscope of volatility around an uncommon occurrence.

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Rusty Brown (Drama)

by Chris Ware  (Author)

Publisher : Pantheon; Illustrated edition (September 24, 2019)

Hardcover, 356 pages

AmazonListing

This is Chris Ware’s book, culled from the pages of Acme Novelty Library. A series which ended ten years ago, and has now been collected into this volume. What is interesting is that the story itself is not over. The very last page ends with “Intermission”. Thus the book is meant to be part one of a however-many series. I have my doubts anymore is forthcoming. Acme Novelty Library came out only once a year -if that. So it took ten years to get this far, and another ten years to collect it. So we will probably have to deal with the material presented here as the final product.

Not that there’s anything wrong with the contents of Rusty Brown. If anything, the material is too good. The art is always crisp, precise, and meticulous. Perfect curves, immaculate edges. Nothing beats it. It sucks you in and forces the reader to admire each page for about half an hour. One minor detail is that the author often plays about with the size of the panels, and so a lot of the words are really tiny. Stick your eyeball a millimeter from the page tiny. That might have a negative impact on your enjoyment.

The story itself rambles. I’m pretty sure the author has an idea of what happens to each of the characters throughout their entire lives, but is scattered about its presentation. In the first few segments all of the character’s lives intersect together at a Catholic school in near-rural Nebraska. After these initial stories introducing the characters, the story focuses on individual characters using that time period of the late 1970s as a pivot. 

Unfortunately, the titular character Rusty Brown, fades out of the action after the first story. The action then focuses on his father and his failed writing aspirations, mostly due to fear of rejection. Jordan Lint, a boy we see bullying the titular Rusty Brown and his tumultuous life. Whether he was a good or bad man remains up in the air. I have the feeling a lot was left out of the tale. Finally, we see the life - or part of it, there’s gotta be more - of Rusty’s third grade teacher, Joanna Cole, and her lonely life in snow-bound Nebraska. The stories here are good. Damn good. Mixed with equal parts nostalgia and despair.  These aren’t triumphs of the human spirit, but they are undeniably human.

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Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (Drama)

 

by Stephen Crane

Publisher : Independently published (March 19, 2020)

Softcover, 108 pages

Amazon Listing 

“The vast crowd had an air throughout of having just quitted labor. Men with calloused hands and attired in garments that showed the wear of an endless trudge for a living, smoked their pipes contentedly and spent five, ten, or perhaps fifteen cents for beer. There was a mere sprinkling of kid-gloved men who smoked cigars purchased elsewhere. The great body of the crowd was composed of people who showed that all day they strove with their hands. Quiet Germans, with maybe their wives and two or three children, sat listening to the music, with the expressions of happy cows. An occasional party of sailors from a war-ship, their faces pictures of sturdy health, spent the earlier hours of the evening at the small round tables. Very infrequent tipsy men, swollen with the value of their opinions, engaged their companions in earnest and confidential conversation. In the balcony, and here and there below, shone the impassive faces of women. The nationalities of the Bowery beamed upon the stage from all directions.”

This was originally a self-published novella by Stephen Crane from 1893. It flopped, but after his novel, The Red Badge of Courage, hit it big, Maggie was republished - (after significant changes were made) 1896 and became the semi-classic it is today. That is, a great story which no one has ever heard of. An amazing amount of material is covered in such a short span of work. In fact, the life of an entire girl from the Bowery.

Author Stephen Crane

For those who don't know the Bowery was a neighborhood in the south of Manhattan, well known for slums, vice, crippling poverty, violence, and crime- at least at the time of this writing. The protagonist grows up in a chaotic situation, surrounded by her violent and dangerously alcoholic family. Her parents routinely become drunk, beat on their children, and destroy their apartment. Attempting to escape this insanity, Maggie latches onto a local bartender, who she perceives as the knight in shining armor, while it is as plain as day to the reader he is nothing more than a dumb thug with a high opinion of himself.

While Crane’s characters speak in the vernacular of their society, similar to Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God and Walker’s The Color Purple, the book discusses underlying themes that pester every level of mankind. Substance abuse and hypocrisy being chief among them - most of the characters here are the dregs of society, thus they are constantly looking for someone else to look down upon, and if a victim doesn’t present himself then they manufacture one. But this novella also takes a large swipe at the naturalistic principle, a topic of much discussion at the time of first publication.

Naturalism is when “a character is set into a world where there is no escape from one's biological heredity. Additionally, the circumstances in which a person finds oneself will dominate one's behavior, depriving the individual of personal responsibility.” In this case, Maggie, both sheltered from any other life and abused by current situations, cannot get away from the lousy hand dealt her and must suffer accordingly.

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Author Stephen Crane 1897

Local (Drama)

by Brian Wood  (Author), Ryan Kelly  (Author, Illustrator)

Publisher: Oni Press; First Edition (September 10, 2013)

Hardcover, 384 pages

Amazon Listing

This is a collection of twelve interconnected stories of a woman (and sometimes her family members) traveling across the United States, living on the bum, sometimes sleeping in her car, and never staying anyplace too long. Whenever trouble starts up or things become too real, she bolts to another city six states away. Some have called her a complex character, all I see is a young girl with standard growing pains, having difficulty metamorphosing into an adult - like we all do. She often deals with it by running to another city, which is unusual, but metaphorically standard. The character does grow though and we follow her across several years and finally into her organically changing into an adult - like a comic version of Hayden Caulfield.

Together the stories paint a great picture. However, individually they are hit and miss. There are some fascinating ones dealing with Megan and her brother's memories of their deceased mother.  One was the beloved child, while the other was abused. The low point of the book is a story centered around a recently broken up band, returning to Richmond, where the vocalist gives a boring and pretentious interview about music and its importance and blah, blah, blah. Masturbation and a waste of ink.

Most of the credit for this book success must go to the artist. The bold black and white drawings, captured the flavor of each setting, each locale. They come alive in each panel, and much of the nuance of the book and subtext are deftly placed by the artist. Normally I would’ve go for a prestige format of a book, being much too frugal. But they are going cheap now on Amazon, and they are beautifully put together, with at least fifty pages of annotations, sketches, and other additional material.  

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The Sun, The Idea, & Story Without Words

by Franz Masereel, David A. Berona (Introduction) 

Publisher: Dover Publications (August 21, 2009)

Softcover, 224 pages

Amazon Listing 


These are reprints of three of Frans Masereel woodcut novels from the 1920s. While inspired by ancient techniques, he also inspired other artists and a new fad of the old craft sprung up in the 1920s. Unfortunately, the Great Depression ended the fad as it ended so many other things. It must be pointed out that these graphic novels came before the advent of Superman, and they are mainly commentaries on the condition of man.  

Many people have an idea that old-time literature was filled with Victorian era attitudes and forced to be a squeaky clean as 1950s Tv. Not so. Sexuality and nudity are openly discussed (or displayed) in these stories.  

from The Idea

The Sun, Masereel’s second woodblock novel is a take on the ancient myth of Icarus, of a man trying to reach the sun and failing miserably. Though this is set in a “modern” context (modern for the 20’s, it’s fairer to say, industrialized context). What’s interesting is that the author puts himself in the story and all of the action is the result of a dream he is having. Along the way, he tries to reach for the sun people, society in general, drag him down, away from his dreams and ambitions. However, his ultimate failure seems to suggest that the people suppressing him were right to do so. An interesting start, but far from his best work.  

The Idea. In this the author comes up with the titular ideal, personified as a naked woman, and sends it out into the world. Once there this idea (perhaps meaning the naked truth) is mocked by society. They attempt to tame it, to clothe it as something else, and suppress it through the court. She perseveres and is championed by those who need help, who are downcast in society. Despite a constant war on the idea, she survives by expressing herself in print, in newspapers, in music, in film, and on the radio. She succeeds and fails simultaneously. Eventually she returns to her creator, only to find he has created a new idea. She is then replaced and takes her among history.  

from The Idea

Story Without Words, the third woodcut novel is a simple tale about a man who tries to win the love of the woman. She refuses his advances until the man threatens to kill himself, after which she submits and then he discards her. How this story stands out is the use of background imagery to display the man’s various attempts and the woman’s reactions, similar to medieval morality woodcuts to teach the illiterate masses. Again, the story is simple, but also timeless. 

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from Story Without Words

The Demon (Drama) (Experimental Fiction)

by Hubert Selby Jr.   

Publisher: Penguin Books (August 1, 2011)

Softcover, 288 pages

Amazon Listing

“And with this new consciousness came the pleasure of being able to make a game out of it. At least for now. Someday the killing would have to be a reality, but for now just the contemplation of it exalted him. That was one of the great things about this experience. He could delay the action almost indefinitely, and it added to the excitement. Nurture, pet, and caress the anticipation. That was the thing to do. And he would. He would tantalize himself just as long as possible. Someday the act would be a part of history, but now he would just dangle it in front of himself. He could create his own suspense. And master it!”

This is a sad story of man who achieved much, but couldn't conquer his demons. Many reviews claim that the main character is a sociopath, but this is obviously not the case. The protagonist is much more nuanced than that. He has genuine feelings for his parents, wife, and child. But is obviously suffering from an impulse control disorder which results in severe depression unless the main character indulges in some form of risky behavior. Once done, he is capable of living, the mental tension and anxiety that grows leading up to event is relieved, but never ultimately banished.

Author Hubert Selby, Jr.

The titular demon here is the mental illness afflicting the protagonist. While brilliant in his field, he pays the price for his genius by needing to indulge in increasingly risky behavior. Beginning with compulsive sex, he moves onto banging dirty, possibly diseased women after he married, then kleptomania, burglaries, riding trains like an old-time hobo, and finally murder. But like the old tale of Crom-Cruicak, one can satiate the demon but never ultimately satisfy it. The protagonist is no exception and suffers the ultimate penalty.

What may turn some readers off is the stream-of-consciousness writing style that plays fast and loose with punctuation, paragraph formation, and any actual punctuation you might like. Typical of the author's style, this formation is reflexive of the protagonist's mental state and becomes increasingly erratic the further he dips into his illness. Some critics claims that this style is weird simply for its own sake, but I found it consistent with the context of the book.

The only negative part is that the book tends to drag about a third of the way through. About twenty five pages could've easily been jettisoned without loss, and it would've kicked up the momentum. However, once the protagonist starts stealing the story steers right back on track.

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Torture Garden (Drama)

by Octave Mirbeau (Author), Michael Richardson (Translator), Brian Stableford (Introduction)

Publisher: Dedalus Ltd; new edition edition (July 15, 2019)

Softcover, 205 pages

Amazon Listing 

“Come, dear ones, come more quickly. Where you’re going there is even more pain, more torture, more blood flowing and dripping to the ground, more contorted and torn bodies at their last gasp on iron tables, more cut open flesh swaying from the gallow’s rope, more horror and more hell. Come, my loves, come, with lips together and hand in hand. Look among the leaves and the latticework, look at the infernal diorama as it unfolds and at the diabolical festival of death.”

This work has been compared to that of the Marquis De Sade, having read all of De Sade’s writings I can assure you that it is not. It is De Sade light and much better written than most of De Sade’s tales. However several of the themes of the Marquis’ work are present in this twisted tale. In the wake of the Dreyfus affair, much of French literature turned to discussing the hypocrisy of Western civilization. About how many decry acts which they themselves regularly perform. About how the worst always crawl to the top, but must maintain airs of absolute respectability.

However, while De Sade would be content with this simple statement and show constant horrific examples ad nauseam, the author goes beyond and shows the extreme opposite and shows the land of China (this would be the last few decades of Imperial China) as one who openly embraces sex and violence as a matter of course and a natural part of human behavior. The flip sides seems to be much worse than the stuffy European way of life.

Author Octave Mirabeau

 

The epitome of this is shown in the character of Clara, "fairy of mass graves, angel of decomposition and decay". She is an extreme example of a fin-de-siècle (femme fatale), an all-powerful near-necrophilia who treats men as puppets and enjoys their humiliation. Sadistic and morbid, she experiences an intense and ever growing sexual pleasure on viewing elaborate executions, whose art was perfected by China, as opposed to industrial and technological massacres, which were practiced on a large scale in Europe without any concern for art, i.e. the guillotine (something that De Sade laments as well). She is a monster allowed to give full flight to her perversions in this horrible place.

The plot is fairly simple. A French politician's dirty trickster is sent on a pseudo-scientific expedition to collect seaweed in order to discover the origin of life. In reality, he is being put out of the way as he has become a potential embarrassment to the politician. He quickly abandons his pursuits when he falls under the spell of Clara, an English woman, who wraps him around her little finger. For over two years, he goes back and forth, until finally she takes him to the Torture Gardens of China, where scenes of great floral beauty are displayed amongst the horrible death, torture, and humiliations of condemned prisoners.

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Lifelike (Drama) (Graphic Novel)

by Dara Naraghi & various artists.

Publisher: IDW Publishing (January 8, 2008).

Hardcover, 108 pages 

A series of illustrated vignettes, each by a different indie artist from around the world. The author provides a brief annotation before each story. Many are semi-autobiographical in nature.

We begin with “The Long Journey” drawn by Brazilian artist Iranipan Ruiz. It gravitates about an Iranian refugee in the U.S. who escapes from the horror of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980. Trapped between the squabbles of two demented dictators, he takes a third way and runs off.

Next is “Imaginarians”, drawn by Ohio based artist Tom Williams. It is a simple and insipid story of the importance of “the power of imagination”. A children book writer goes on a talk show and the two argue. There isn't much to this one and it ends with Hallmark greeting card level of wisdom.

“Double Cross at the Double Down”, the third installation, is drawn by American artist Marvin Mann. A fence meets a petty crook in a run-down bar and things get bloody. The dialogue is a little stilted here, as if the author wanted the characters to sound hard but had only learned American tough-guy talk from bad PG movies.

The fourth story is “Art/Life” drawn by Neil Errar. This is a great tale about the nature of art, or rather “good art”. As tastes vary so does the love of art. A man draws superhero comics for a living. Is he wasting his talent?

Number five is “Remembrance” drawn by Jerry Lange. It is beautifully illustrated on watercolors, quite frankly it is probably the most beautiful story in the collection. It is about the nature of death and a dog's connection to her master.

The sixth is “Punishment” by South Carolinian artist Steven Spensor Ledford. It's a weird revenge tale, dealing with crime and punishment. Maybe a little too black and white for my tastes.

Seventh, we have “Intermission: drawn by versatile artist Andy Bennett. A banal story without much point, except maybe it's supporting people who don't fit in being the really best people in the world while ordinary people are evil, or something. Whatever the point is, it's dull.

Eighth is “Crush” illustrated by Jerry Lange. A lesbian affairs ends and the two meet again at a bar. One of them half hoping to hook up again. Ehhhh. Lesbians are no longer edgy.

Ninth is “Comeback”, drawn by Tim McClurg. A decent story of a washed up actor with a love of cars who tried the only route left in his egotistical head to make it big again.

Tenth is “Smoke Break”, once again drawn by Marvin Mann. A smoke break outside of a hospital turns into a crash scene. One of the better stories here, it plays with some nuances between life and death. And on how one simple thing can change the trajectory of your life forever.

Eleventh is “The Routine” by California based artist Steve Black. A stale story about mental illness and acceptance and all of that. If this were part of a larger story, it might be more interesting. But this tale feels like a subplot, a b-story, than a full one on its own.

Twelfth we have “Rooftop Philosophy” by Adrian Barbu, a Romanian artist. Very well drawn, it's a story of two small-time crooks that plan the “perfect crime”. A decent story, even if you see the end a mile away.

Unlucky thirteen is “Skin Deep” by artist Tom Williams. Again, another story hampered by a short run time. It revolves around a man with some sort of voyeur tattoo fetish who is trying to convince a friend of his to get one. I'm not sure why, there sure seems to be a sexual undercurrent to the whole thing. Not bad, but not great either.

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