Fatal Faux-Pas
By Samuel C. Gaskin
Published by Secret Acres, 2008
I just had the wonderful honor of receiving one of the first publications from Secret Acres, Fatal Faux-Pas by Samuel C. Gaskin.
Now, this is my first experience of someone asking me to review something. I was (am) a little nervous because, well, as you know I'm the resident Virgin to Comic Books. So, my taste for something is usually visceral and emotional, and honestly somewhat less than critical. My fear stems from the fact that I have such little experience with comics that I have nothing to compare and contrast with. No true knowledge of fine arts, and sometimes the pop-culture references can go right over my head because, well, I'm old. I am. I mean, I'm coming late to the comic book party. Real late.
Okay, now that I've gotten all the disclaimers aside, as well as some mild self-deprecation, I want to take it all back because I want you all to trust my opinion and review of this. This was a totally enjoyable read – severely clever, very funny and even sometimes poetic.
To my first point, the visceral and emotional reaction. The first thing that got me was the "Rock, Paper, Scissors" passage, which was an autobiographical tale. I love that, in a matter of frames and very few words, I learned about an entire relationship, an entire summer, and its impact. And yet it's so quiet. It reminds me of Anders Nilson (and there goes my fear of having nothing to compare this to), who's stuff I love. This quietness within the art, the leaving space for emotion and/or contemplation, if one so chooses to experience those things, is really beautiful. And let me tell you what, too -- I laughed out loud while reading this book. No, not out loud at home. Out loud. On the train. Several times. See, that's when you know something is really funny – when ones normal sense of self-consciousness (and self preservation) is thrown off like a dirty shirt, in the name of humor.
I rarely read comics on the train. (Well, I rarely read comics.) And so, after laughing out loud, the woman sitting next to me, nosey little missus that she is, decides to read over my shoulder. Right when I'm getting to the first of two penis pictures in the whole thing. Of course. And although normally I'd get really uncomfortable that someone was seeing that I was reading something with pictures of dick sucking – I actually didn't care. In fact, I kind of hoped she was offended – because she was annoying. And that part of the comic, was really, really hilarious.
And as for pop-culture references – Hello! I was right at home! How old is Sam? Was he in my class? We've got everything from Fonzie to Saved By The Bell to Herzog to Spider-man to Harry Potter mixed with Black Sabbath. I am so happy.
And so once again, I have the experience where picking up a comic –
this comic Fatal Faux Pas – made me laugh, gave me a break in my day,
and helped me to relax and lighten up. It's better than a cocktail.
I'm looking forward to reading more. Thank you to the guys at Secret
Acres for the opportunity and to Sam for sharing his art.
This review was based on a complimentary copy from the publisher. This comic will be available at the Mocca convention in New York City, as will other items from Secret Acres.
-Nina Stone, 2008
i dont know whether or not it was consensual but youve defintely been fucked by a comic book. ah well...you're still a virgin in my eyes
Posted by: andre | 2008.06.06 at 18:56