Radiant Comics

I’m back from the comic shop this week and I got one new comic plus a trade paperback collection:

And now for a review of something I’ve read recently.

“Wally Gropius” by Tim Hemsley

I saw some of Hemsley’s work in a “Best of” anthology that I got two Christmases ago. So this Christmas I had this book on my wish list. I’m having a hard time thinking of how to describe it. It’s hardcover, about 12.5×10 inches, and 64 pages. It’s kind of like a giant, hardcover, Richie Rich comic. Of course I only say that because the lead character is a wealthy teenage boy, the book is a comedy, and it’s drawn in a cartoony “bigfoot” style. It only a superficial resemblance but it’s all I got.

There isn’t much of a structure to the story. It’s made up of short, one to five page pieces that seem to begin and end at random. There is, sort of, an overall story going on which is about Wally’s dad saying that Wally has to get married soon and he has to marry the saddest girl in the world. This theme runs through a lot of the book as teenage girls compete for his affection by trying to be sad. Wally doesn’t even know why he’s expected to marry the saddest girl in the world.

I enjoyed this book but I am still having a hard time describing it. It’s funny but besides sight gags that pop up all the time for no reason there are no jokes in it. The joke is its strangeness. Things just happen. Sometimes wacky sexual euphemisms are thrown in just because they’re funny words. It’s a weird comic.

The artwork looks like a 1960s or 1970s teen comic that is a bit off kilter and not as literal. The colors are bright and flat. No illustrative modeling here. Wally is even in a teen band that has three other members who all dress alike and resemble a 1960’s Beatles knock off band. Why is Wally even in a band? Who knows? I guess it give him something to do.

I liked “Wally Gropius” but I think it’s a comic you really have to read for yourself. It’s too filed with goofiness for me to describe well.