Graphic Novel Review Update
by Joey Manley
This week, I reviewed Demo by Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan:
Like the best alt-rockers, Wood and Cloonan twist the devices of mainstream pop to unusually thoughtful ends. In the case of a rock band, those pop devices might be catchy hooks, or crunchy guitars. Think of the way that REM used schmaltzy sentimentality to hateful and ironic effect in their first top 40 hit (”This one goes out to the one I love …”). It’s pop, but it isn’t — but, yes, really, it is — but, no, it really isn’t. And so on. That’s how it’s done in music. In the case of a comic book, “pop” means superheroes. Even allegedly non-superheroic pop comics, like Sin City
or Planetary
, present the reader with superheroes (or supervillains) to root for and/or despise, albeit tights-less, cowl-less, capeless ones. That Yellow Bastard
, for example, would be right at home in any Batman story. Demo, on the other hand, remains comparatively non-action-oriented: it revolves around characters with super powers, but in a very different way than your typical Marvel or DC comic does.
