Local # 6
Written by Brian Wood
Art by Ryan Kelly
Published by Oni
So, the street urchin who picks up Factual’s weekly comics had jury duty this week. In the lad's stead, I was sent to the comic shop with a list. On my way there I got kind of excited because I realized that this meant that the Virgin Read would not be picked from just the stack that made it back to the office, but from the entire selection at the comic store.
So, I was guided to the neatly displayed area…..and after a bit of browsing and finding the indie section (yes….I’m learning I have a thing for indie comics), I narrowed it down to two comics. Doc Walloper by Ed Burns and someone else, and Local by Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly. I took both comics to the counter and asked if this Ed Burns was the Actor/writer/Director Ed Burns, or the Ed Burns who produces, etc., The Wire (please be the guy from the Wire, please be the guy from the wire….). The guys weren’t too sure. Instead, I asked them for a little guidance about my choices. I’d like to thank the dudes at Time Machine for their helpfulness and kindness. And also thanks to they guy who said, in so many words, that Virgin comics are generally known for sucking, thus making my decision to purchase Local for myself an easy one. Yay!
Here’s the thing though….if you’re looking for a review of the most recent Local, stop reading now. Seriously. Stop. I had no idea that it was already up to issue 12 and I bought issue 6. All I know is that it said “Megan and Gloria, apartment 5A”, that it seemed to center around 2 girls, that the art was all black and white, and that “local” meant Park Slope, Brooklyn…..which is WHERE I LIVE. My town, about chicks, and art that makes sense to me at a glance (plus, no men in tights) – of course I picked this comic!
Did I enjoy it? Yes. Yes. Very much. I crossed over, folks. I crossed over some line from the naive comics newcomer to a girl completely identifying with a comic book, and going out of her way to read on and on and on about Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly. Brian and I are neighbors. Neighbors! I’m mere blocks away from him right this second! That means we're in the same income bracket!
Okay, I’m fan-geeky. Let me get to the content of this here tale. In his bit at the back of the comic, Brian says that he was thinking about New York City and the roommate thang and that he finds “any instance of people striving for normalcy in abnormal situations fascinating….”. That could be the best sentence about NYC life ever.
I’ve had more roommates than I can really count. I’ve lived on the Upper Westside, the East village, Jersey City and Park Slope. I have searched for and interviewed roommates so many times. It really is an odd thing. I liked reading this comic because I found myself having such a visceral reaction to Megan and all her complaints about her roommate. For all Gloria’s quirks and OCD-ishness, I couldn’t help but have her back because, well, she was clear up front with the situation.
See, there was a period of time where I was simultaneously interviewing for roommates for the Jersey City pad, dabbling in online dating, and auditioning for, well anything and everything. And jeez, everything felt the same. First there was the well crafted email/cover letter (either from me or to me), then the initial meeting – come see the apartment prospective roomie; let’s meet for coffee prospective love interest; please come to this cattle call possible lead actress. And in all this uncertainty and vulnerability, the worst thing was when I’d approve a roommate, or a date, or a job, and although I’d been clear from the get-go as to what I was looking for, somehow the other person decided to have a problem with it. I could go on and on about this – sooooo many stories. But suffice it to say that I related with Gloria for this reason. If I tell you what the rent is, and what our cleaning habits are, what right did roommate #7 to say yes to the apartment and then move in and throw out everything in our Fridge because she wanted to clean it her way? And why did roommate # 8 think she should re-negotiate her rent with me? Why did that asshole insist on kissing me good-night (read: mauling me) when I would not so much as hold his hand all night and had been clear about needing to get home at a decent hour? Why did they tell me to prepare 2 songs and a monologue, and then cut me right after simply lining us up and typing us based on hair color?
You got me thinking about this whole “striving for normalcy in abnormal situations,” Brian. I mean, in NYC if you’re not in therapy or a 12 step program or both…then you know several people who are and get yourself analyzed whether you want to be or not. And I’ve started to realize how, for me, learning to NOT focus on other people’s behavior and learning how to maintain a sense of peace and tolerance as I go throughout my day has become, like, Sport. I mean……its like learning how to dribble a basket ball down a crazy court filled with small children and knife-wielding gang members wandering about. And, although I’ve begun to pride myself on my ability to, um, get through the day……what the fuck? I’m SURE its not like this in other places. I've BEEN to other places. One doesn’t need to have a Black Belt in interpersonal communication to get through their day. I mean, roommates, man. I remember having to take so much time to deal with the fact that one roommate found it completely okay to eat my my last two cookies I’d been saving and drink all my soda. She was beside herself when I asked her to go out and buy me more soda. Immediately. I mean, look. The fact that I’m even writing about it now, 6 years after the fact, shows that it friggin’ BUGGED me. And its not just the immediate irritation of that. It’s the whole, why-can’t-you-see-that-you’re-the-fucked-up-one-not-me thing that gets so hairy.
So, um, yeah Megan. She can see that she’s the one fucking up, but she hasn’t been able to stop herself. I’m sort of amazed that in a case like this, she doesn’t just move out. She doesn’t even just move out and got to another borough. She goes to an entire new state. I hope it all pans out for her. I’m kind of psyched that there’s 6 issues already in print for me to read. That means I don’t have to wait!! (Like I have to wait for Nana…..)
I’m still stuck, though, on being Brian Wood’s neighbor, and that this comic takes place all around me. Considering how excited I am about this, maybe its time I read some Jonathan Lethem.
-Nina Miller, 2008
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