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HANDBOOK
by John Hankiewicz
($3.00 from
The Holy Consumption)
Review by Chris Polkki
Judging from his contribution to the indispensable
Kramers Ergot 4, as well as his own regular comic,
Tepid, John Hankiewicz is clearly an artist who pours himself into his craft, creating a distinctive visual language that sets its own boundaries and follows its own rules. That's not to say Hankiewicz is an easy read, however: it's just that, in the end, he's worth the effort.
Hankiewicz distinguishes himself from his "cute brut" cronies by mixing spare, enigmatic text with meticulously idle graphics. His stories brim with seemingly uneventful – but painstakingly-rendered – images of half-empty rooms, objects, chairs and people sitting silently alone. In the background, waves of detailed surface textures surge forth to compete for the reader's attention.
In
Handbook, the piece "Epictetus" plays intriguingly with the symbiotic relationship between words and images, shirking conventional reader expectations like a memory game. "Jazz/Asthma", which first appeared in
Blood Orange #1, feels like two sets of intertwining dreams: somehow, it conveys an overwhelming sense of physical vulnerability.
If Hankiewicz's figures tend to feel more like stand-ins for feelings or ideas than actual characters, such displacement may be rooted in what appears to be a limited repertoire of facial expressions at the artist's disposal: cynics might argue that this perceived lack undermines the seamless narrative flow of the book, by overemphasizing the "still" (or "inexpressive") qualities of the material. Which might bother those who prefer to zip through their comics, but one hopes more discerning readers will be able to control their deficient attention spans and focus on the many strengths of the work.
Handbook feels like a sampler intended for distribution at comic-related events – it's kinda hard to know whether the material in this book has been assembled for any cohesive reason other than to get some new work out – but here it all is, appearing in the same place, with its own cover, so that's good enough for me. And if you're looking for a relatively inexpensive way to brush up on one of the more distinctive members of the
Kramers group, hopefully it will be good enough for you, too.
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