Written By Matt Fraction
Art by Gabriel Ba
Published by Image
Casanova is the second comic published in what is now referred to, b me, as the "Fell" style, the similarly constructed series. Although Casanova and Fell are completely different comics in terms of subject matter, both series cost 2 dollars, contain no advertisements, and are full of background information from the writer. Although Fell and Casanova have been incredibly successful so far, the idea (of producing cheap, story heavy comics) will have to go for longer than six months for it to be treated as a serious achievement.
In the terms of quality single issues though, Casanova is off to an incredible start. Its anti-comic status only hinted at in their first issue is cemented here, when Fraction's nihilistic glory-seeking Cas makes it abundantely clear what he cares about: doing dope, having sex, and killing people. As he puts it, "How can a bunch of stupid comic books compete with drugs and girls that let you take off their clothes?" Of course, the fact that most (read: 99%) comic books are substitutes for masturbation, or at least the non cancer-causing replacement for post-masturbatory cigarettes; well, that is a point that our lead character sees fit to ignore. After all, he has a lot of things to do, like remember what word it is that defines a father's desire to kill his children (it's "filicide"), have sex with a robot, shoot his sister, find his dead mother, reprogram a robot, go all Martin Sheen on a British version of Kurtz, and help an entire town kick an addiction to orgone-the chemical referred to in Burroughs Naked Lunch.
He also has to do this in 20 pages, because that's all the Fell style allows for. When compared to everything that was released this week, Casanova # 2 stands without any competition whatsoever. Whether the series can go anywhere remains to be determined, as the story thus far does not lend itself to lasting for very long before becoming repetitious. Still, Fraction and Ba have done an excellent job showcasing why, when taking to the most extreme conclusion, comic books are inherently built on ridiculous premises, and it is these ridiculous premises that make them worth reading.
-Tucker Stone, 2006
Mmm-hmm. Quick question, and I'm not trying to be rude or in-chummy: Does anybody, besides you and I, actually refer to it as the "the 'Fell' style?"
I do, because I know where it came from; you do, and you're probably the one who told me where it came from.
Too, I don't like you saying "previous ... series." I don't know that it's strictly inaccurate, but it makes it sound as though Ellis is done with "Fell." Sounds like that make me, a tough and hard-boiled guy who never shows emotion, want to cry silently.
There are more issues on the way, don't you know, and I'll prove it to you ... if Warren will only help me out.
Posted by: Matt Hartwick | 2006.08.07 at 13:50