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And now, a bit of a change of pace.
Ariel Schrag does autobiographical comics,
and has done since she was a teenager. Likewise
is an eight-issue miniseries serialising the... well, to call
it the latest instalment would be a misnomer.
According to Schrag's introduction (and
this is the entire thing): "Likewise is a true account
of my senior year at high school. The entire book, which
is 378 pages, was written and drawn during the year that I
took off between graduating from high school and starting
college. It will be released in an eight-issue series as
I continue to ink it."
By the way, if you're one of those people
with a "wait for the trade" mentality, issue #2 is scheduled
for next April. So by my count, the trade should be out
at some point in 2006. Happy waiting!
There are three previous instalments -
Awkward, Definition and Potential - covering
her ninth, tenth and eleventh grades. I haven't read any
of them, but I'll have to see about changing that, because
this is great. The first of those books had already been
self-published by the time this one takes place, so things are
getting a bit reflexive - Schrag spends a fair amount of this
issue wondering how she should treat events in her comic.
By rights this ought to be annoying, but she makes it work.
The two chapters in this first issue cover
rather different topics. Chapter one is largely about
Schrag failing to get over her break-up with her first love
and trying to find a way out of her rebound relationship.
Chapter two is mainly Schrag and her friends talking about
"It" for ten pages and never quite managing to define quite
what they mean but all understanding in the end.
Although some dodgy lettering breaks the flow of a few scenes,
Schrag is a hugely talented cartoonist, and really brings
these scenes to life. I hate using words like "true" and
"human" when reviewing this sort of story, but if I didn't, I
would be using them here.
Schrag is gay, and at this point in her
life it's obviously a big issue. Her reluctance to buy into
the trappings of the Gay Pride movement, and ambivolent
feelings about her sexuality are powerfully conveyed.
But while there are areas of teen angst here - and so there
should be - there's no melodrama.
Autobiography seems to have gone out of
fashion in indie comics over the last five years or so.
There was a time when you couldn't move for the damn things.
It all got rather repetitive and painfully self-absorbed.
This might explain why you don't see autobiographies so much
these days. As a general rule, I don't miss them.
Likewise is the sort of book worth
making an exception for.
Rating: A+
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