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After a rather uninspiring week of X-books,
what I need to perk me up is something unequivocally good.
And here's one.
Flytrap is a sort of "pilot episode"
for a series of minicomics by Sara Ryan and Steve Lieber.
I adored their last collaboration, Me and Edith Head,
so I'm delighted to see them doing something on a larger
scale. Only slightly larger, mind you - we're still in
the realm of minicomics here, and if you want a copy of this,
you'll have to order it via Steve Lieber's website. But
I'd encourage you to do that.
The tricky thing about reviewing this story
is that it's really the set-up for the stories to come.
So if I explain what the premise of the series is, it'll spoil
the ending of a story which is perfectly good in its own
right, since Flytrap is a series of short stories
rather than a serial.
Maddy works in PR, but she's moonlighting
by helping out the burgeoning music career of her beloved
boyfriend Klaus. ("Yes, Klaus. That's his name
now.") So basically, it's PR 24 hours a day. She's
not a workaholic, she's just driven by a misplaced sense of
duty to some people who don't appreciate her, and she's
deluded herself into thinking that this is all working out
fine. Needless to say, she's wrong, because there
wouldn't be much of a story otherwise.
What I like about Maddy is that despite
being the star, she seems to think she's a supporting
character in other people's lives - characters much more minor
than her. She acts as though she has an obligation to
help these people out. She's easy to root for because
she's digging herself into a completely undeserved hole while
trying to do the right thing.
Black and white line art by Steve Lieber is
always a joy. In the limited space of a minicomic, you
need an artist who can act if the characters are really going
to come to life. And Lieber's your man, because he's
able to add depth to the characters while making potentially
dull office scenes visually interesting.
Lovely stuff. I'll certainly be
looking out for the future issues.
Rating: A
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