Reading Through 2021 12: Our Expanding Universe, by Alex Robinson

Our Expanding Universe, by Alex Robinson

2015

One of my COVID plans was to read less new stuff, and fill up gaps in my comics knowledge. Reading something of Robinson's was on the list. His Box Office Poison was well-received when it came out, but I never read it at that time. Since then, I've listened to his one podcast, Star Wars Minute, for about eight years now.

I liked this book and found it interesting, but there was a little frustration with it too. His style is rooted in the indie books of the 90's, and I think it suffers from not being enough in any one direction. It's not super cartoony, it's not super realistic, it's not super dynamic. It reminds me somewhat of my own comics The first chapter or so, the art took me out of the story a bit, but after I got into the book, I could very much appreciate its consistency and clarity. That sounds like faint praise, but that's one of the biggest faults in comics: comics where I can't tell what's going on. It made it an easy read. And some pages he definitely takes more time on the art than others, and those pages stand out

I like the rendering in the top panel a lot!

The story is about three adults of the same age but different stages. Two guys are married, one single. One of the married guys has kids, the other is hoping to. They're very clearly delineated characters. And though the guys are the main feature, the wives get their own space to tell their story too. Robinson is trying to portray a spectrum of characters. But because it's about 30-somethings just living life, there isn't so much happening; or at least what's happening is done through dialogue more than action. It's really interesting dialogue, but you could see this being done as a stage play as much as a comic.

Netflix has some similarly toned dramas, like Love or Easy, and I'm very happy to see adult stories that deal with what we think and what we do in our lives. So it's a good, solid book. Not mind-blowing, but not every book has to be.

I Really Should Read This 2: From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell

From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell

1999, new color version 2020

This was a slow read for me, about a chapter a week for the past three months. Now that I've read the Eisner and Angeloume award winning book? It's good, but I don't exactly know what it was about in places. I feel a little like when I was reading literature for the first time in high school, needing to have the significance explained to me. The second half, when I had a better handle on the cast of characters, was a lot smoother to read though, and the appendix about the industry that Jack the Ripper has created was pretty interesting too.

It's a weird thing, to read a book about the Jack the Ripper murders, hypothesizing the method and motives, and then mix some witchcraft and magic into it. I know Moore is a believer in magic, but it's just a form of science fiction to me. It firmly makes this book a form of fiction, but he's gone to great lengths to base the story in known facts. Very weird stuff.

But it was good, it was compelling, and in places stomach churning. I probably will read it again in five or ten years.