Sorry

Sorry
7"x7", 52 pages
$6.00
Available for order here

Sorry is the of a collection of four square anthologies revolving around classic board games (Sorry, Trial Pursuit, Scrabble, and Life) from I Know Joe Kimpel. It includes stories by Colleen Frakes, Caitlin Plovnick, Mario van Buren, and Emily Wieja. I have to say that I bought the book because of Mario Van Buren (Girls Don't Poop). I'm glad I bought this book, because all the stories are quite good.

The book opens with Mermaid Monster Blues by Caitlin Plovnick. At first blush it is an absurd tale about a vengeful mermaid who is shunned by her lover. But, it is actually a much deeper parable about the lengths that women go through to win the affections of undeserving men (and the damage that occurs to the women as a result). A powerful message wrapped up in a cute tale.

While the art is, at times, a little unclear, there is no getting around the fact that it is powerful. It moves from cute to disturbing to terrifying all within a matter of pages. Plovnick shows a great range of characters design, facial expression, and panel layout.

The second story is Sorry or Bluejay the Imitator by Colleen Frakes. It is based on an Upper Skagit native story and has all the trappings therein. It is filled with talking animals, spirit guides, and a moral message at the end. While the story is quite simple, it is Frakes' art that is really on display. She exhibits a cartoony style that works to show the absurdity of the situation, as well as convey motion and emotion with great clarity. Her depiction of the Shadow People marks a shift in her art style to match Northwest Indian art. It is a neat trick which evokes not only the Native American aspect of the story, but also gives the Shadow People that much more of a mystical quality.

The third story is Monkey Bars by Mario Van Buren. It takes place in the same neighborhood as another book of his, The Marsh. It has the same feel as The Marsh (which is a good thing!) and employs may of the same techniques.

Van Buren gives the reader just enough information to engage them, but leave the reader with gaps that must be filled in with imagination. The effect is that you fill it in with things which are infinitely more horrible than could ever be applied to the page. And you are left to wonder what happens next.

Van Buren's sense of perspective is on display early on, conveying the main character's sense of fear and determination. It is the kind of determination that could only be on the face of an eight year old, as crossing the monkey bars takes on epic proportion and importance.

The complete Monkey Bars story is available here. This story is everything I like about comics and is, once again, what I would show people if I wanted to demonstrate what good storytelling in comics is all about.

The final story is Burn by Emily Wieja. I must confess that this was my least favorite of the stories. Weija relies on the art to tell the story (the story is wordless), and it is not up to the task. It isn't that the art is poor (it is actually quite good!), but it is that the story is not given enough room.

It is seven, one-panel pages. Without words to express the relationship between the characters it is difficult to tell how the different images work together.

The art, as I said, is quite good. It has a wood-block quality which really stands out when placed next to the cartoon style of the other three stories. With a little narration, this could have been a great story. Unfortunately, it remains a series of pretty pictures.

Overall this is a great book. I will definitely be ordering the other three books in the series!