YOU CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS
CARTOONIST: Jason
Softcover; black and white, color; $12.98
ISBN: 1-56097-598-9
Much has been made of Jason's pantomime (or silent) comics in the last three years since his first appearance on our shores. Jason's sardonic, deadpan, and mostly dialogue-less comics are some of the best western comics of the last half-decade. His simple line work belies a deeper complexity in the story and an artist who fully understands the visual narrative possibilities of comics. In his hands, comics are cool and don't need the term sequential art. Jason's comics are effective either as a single frame or as narrative frames in sequence.
I suppose many of us have seen so much hackwork that it would be hard for us to believe some one could get it so right. That's not to say that the most recent English edition of Jason's work, the short graphic novel, YOU CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE, is perfect. Half of its narrative focus, a sub-plot about two disgruntled hunchback assistants who each work for a proverbial mad scientist, is only mildly interesting.
It's the other half of the tale, a Romeo and Juliet romance between two monsters (think the Frankenstein monster and the Bride of Frankenstein) that becomes a violent dispute, which Jason does to perfection. You Can't Get There is like a beautiful silent film; it is a combination of a Looney Tunes short and a pantomime action thriller. By now, I've used too many words to praise an artist who does so much with so few words. I can finish by saying that in Jason's drawing hand, silence is indeed golden. B+
YOU CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE
