Written and Illustrated by Howard Chaykin
Published by Image Comics
Writer and artist Howard Chaykin is one of the few comic book creators from the 1970’s who is still doing top notch work.
His previous series of Hey Kids! Comics was one of the more interesting books he has done. It was a fictionalization of the comic book industry that nonetheless felt real.
This series here picks up where that series left off.
There are a lot of characters to keep track of in this book, but Chaykin makes them all identifiable. We start off in the 1970’s. We see two kids who are infatuated by comics. We see how they act and more importantly, what their worldview is.
We then cut back to the 1950’s. We see that comic industry is in a bit of a decline. But for some reason, it just keeps hanging on.
This is where we meet a Wertham-like character who attacks the industry. We see some of the ramifications of that.
Chaykin’s plot asks a very direct question: why wont this industry just die?
This is very relevant to the real world comic book industry. He doesn’t hold back in his revelations. He goes about showing us the answers in an extremely creative and literary way.
In a way, it is hard to review a single chapter comic pamphlet of a story like this. A lot of it is set up. We get to see some of the fandom that the comic book industry has. It seems like Chaykin is setting it up to show us that happens when those fans become the professionals? It also looks to show us the casualties of that occurring.
Chaykin writes a great story that, of course, works spectacularly with the art. He is a master of both writing and art and it shows yet again in this work. This may be the most real I have ever seen the comics industry depicted as far as I know.
Even though it’s fiction, the heart of the piece is real and it cut right to my comics reading core.
Recommended.
RATING: A
