< comics/x >
CARMINE AND DARNELL AND THE SLEEPY CREATURES
by James McShane
(James McShane / PO Box 3205-09 / Providence, RI / 02909 USA. Web:
hepilopter.net)
Review by Chris Polkki
So, who is this James McShane, anyway?
That's the first question that came to mind after reading his extraordinary 160-page mini,
Carmine and Darnell and the Sleepy Creatures, a limited hand-bound edition of which was published in late 2003 by
Peck Press.
Although McShane's approach to comics may seem visually primitive, this simplicity can be deceptive, as it is used skillfully to elevate the work into a complex, evocative and (yes) gripping read.
"Complex" because the fragmented story seems to deliberately contradict many conventionally-held tenets of narrative logic, with the story moving back and forth between scenes like fingers on piano keys during a particularly challenging musical performance (even "alternate" front cover pages are interspersed throughout the book - which, given the deconstructed storytelling approach, make for welcome interludes). While initially disorienting, ultimately this approach begs for repeated readings: interestingly, the second time I read the book, I did so backwards, and gained additional insight into the goings-on within.
"Evocative" because the relationship between the central characters, though portrayed simply, seems at least partly defined by mutual insecurity, jealousy and weakness. This seems to allow the insurgent "sleepy creatures" – who, for no apparent reason, overtake the characters' neighborhood, their home and eventually their life together – to stand for a great deal, including their inability to know each other or themselves (such knowledge
is usually attained by delving, dream-like, into the subconscious for the purposes of introspection and self-discovery). In this way, it seems that the creatures and their "dreams" represent the characters at some sort of emotional or spiritual crossroads.
"Gripping" because, towards the end of the book, an important decision is made by one of the main characters, and despite the disjointed narrative, the reader has been so effectively sutured, through bold technique, into the unfolding events, that (in my case, anyway) an emotional investment is made in the outcome of the story.
This is a work of considerable imagination and insight, approaching the medium of comics as something malleable and fluid: a kind of tool to tell stories that simply couldn't be done justice in any other narrative medium.
For my money, that's who James McShane is.
[ Link to this review ]
