Right on, right on
So, I finally got my hands on issue #76 of Punk Planet magazine (thanks go out to Alex of Art of the Underground for bringing it to my attention) where there are not one but TWO Shortpants reviews hiding in the very back.
Here's what they had to say about Shuteye #2: The Liar:
"At first read, The Liar is an all-American fable of the stranger in town, escaping the circumstances of his past and falsifying just enough of a past to stay within the good graces of the man pouring the whiskey at the bar. The stranger brings trouble and hides the truth, making it unclear to the reader what's a lie and what's a memory and what the narrator himself believes. Like other American tales, this brown paper comic contains twists and turns. You might need to pick up Shuteye more than once before the subterfuge comes to light."
And here's what they said about To the Mouth of the Source:
It would be difficult to review Grant Reynolds' To the Mouth of the Source without harping a bit on its concept: "comic vignettes based on the lyrics of Joanna Newsom." Sure, the music of this modern-day woodland sprite (who seems to pluck her words from the more obscure corners of the OED) might inspire truly imaginative visual art, but there's also the possibility that an ekphrastic comic - crammed with clams, crabs, cockles and cowries - might be somewhat of a visual trainwreck. Fortunately, Reynolds opts for a simple approach, drawing mythical creatures in black ink against stark backgrounds. He uses very few words, masterfully weaving together recurrent Newsom motifs: bones, white coats, water, gnawing, night. When strung together this way - and when accompanying Reynolds' expressive images - the lyrics take on new meaning, while still adhering, remarkably, to the overall mood of Newsom's songs. Indeed, this book is right on."
(incidentally, I'd only ever heard the word ekphrastic before when talking about literature reinterpreting visual art, not the other way around, but I like it. Rock on.)
Here's what they had to say about Shuteye #2: The Liar:
"At first read, The Liar is an all-American fable of the stranger in town, escaping the circumstances of his past and falsifying just enough of a past to stay within the good graces of the man pouring the whiskey at the bar. The stranger brings trouble and hides the truth, making it unclear to the reader what's a lie and what's a memory and what the narrator himself believes. Like other American tales, this brown paper comic contains twists and turns. You might need to pick up Shuteye more than once before the subterfuge comes to light."
And here's what they said about To the Mouth of the Source:
It would be difficult to review Grant Reynolds' To the Mouth of the Source without harping a bit on its concept: "comic vignettes based on the lyrics of Joanna Newsom." Sure, the music of this modern-day woodland sprite (who seems to pluck her words from the more obscure corners of the OED) might inspire truly imaginative visual art, but there's also the possibility that an ekphrastic comic - crammed with clams, crabs, cockles and cowries - might be somewhat of a visual trainwreck. Fortunately, Reynolds opts for a simple approach, drawing mythical creatures in black ink against stark backgrounds. He uses very few words, masterfully weaving together recurrent Newsom motifs: bones, white coats, water, gnawing, night. When strung together this way - and when accompanying Reynolds' expressive images - the lyrics take on new meaning, while still adhering, remarkably, to the overall mood of Newsom's songs. Indeed, this book is right on."
(incidentally, I'd only ever heard the word ekphrastic before when talking about literature reinterpreting visual art, not the other way around, but I like it. Rock on.)
<< Home