Mean

By Steven Weissman (Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN13: 978-1-56097-866-4

If there is such a thing as ‘Dark and Comforting’ then the weird and wicked cartooning of Steven Weissman is a perfect example. Following the success of such books as Chewing Gum in Church and Kid Firechief Fantagraphics have compiled earlier works from his self-published comic Yikes!, supplemented with other rare and even unpublished strips to create a lovely insight into the development of a truly unique graphic vision.

The 32 tales, created between 1993 to 2002, all feature his cast of peculiar children in a macabre tribute to Charles Shulz’s Peanuts strip, but are also literal embodiments of the phrase “little monsters”. In simple childhood romps such as ‘The See-Thru Boy’, ‘The Loneliest Girl in Town’, ‘Inevitable Time-Travel Story’, ‘No Kiss!’ and many others the bizarre cast of Li’l Bloody (a child vampire), Kid Medusa, Pullapart Boy and X-Ray Spence live an idyllically suburban 1950’s existence of school, fishing, skateboards, white picket fences, aliens, wheelchair jousting, marbles and weird science. Weissman’s seductive cast all have huge round heads and ancient bodies like graphic progeria-sufferers, but the drawing is lavish, seductive and utterly convincing.

These are great comics about kids (but categorically Not For Kids) that are a treat, a revelation and most definitely darkly comforting.

MEAN © 2007 Fantagraphics Books. All content © 2007 Steven Weissman. All Rights Reserved.