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APE #1
by Ted Jouflas
($4.95,
Fantagraphics Books)
Review by Mike Hunter
The first issue of
Ape, Theodoros (Ted) Nikos Jouflas's new comic from Fantagraphics, is dedicated to skewering the regime of G.W. Bush, in the issue-length tale "Son of Vision Thing." Though published in 2003, it remains all the more timely, and its exceptional artistry – and the abysmal human behavior depicted therein - is timeless. Jouflas's most evident visual influence is the darkly Expressionistic, highly political art of Sue Coe, but his style is roughly textured, with the raw vitality of "outsider art" greatly emphasized. Rhyme (lettered with deliberate crudeness, to match the jittery anger of the images) describes from whence the Frankenstein-like puppet sprang:
"Ten gallon hats and bighorn steers, where men are men and gays is queers
Lethal injection by the score, especially if you're black or poor
The pointy hat which hid your face, a business suit must now replace..."
After G.W.'s first words ("Surely, they misunderestimate my dignitude") the dismayed creator gripes to his assistant, "...You idiot! You brought me the brain of an alcoholic imbecile!" Gets the reply, "But, master, it won't matter..." and we get a hilarious glimpse of various imbecilic specimens of the "junk culture" where such can rise to the top.
White brushstrokes on a black ground, apropos for the sinister goings-on, and ferociously grotesque portraiture depict Son of Vision Thing's ascent to power. Jouflas is hardly an apologist for the Democrats: while crushed by the GOP elephant, their donkey says, "I want to be just like him when I grow up! I'll give him everything he wants...Maybe then he might play nice..." But the gruesome goings-on proceed. A multi-headed right-wing propaganda creature boasts among its numbers:
"...A golden mane, long legs, nice rack, a bilious maw on the attack
Ad hominem, she turns her tricks, this acid tongued dominatrix..."
Fundamentalists rage at each other, church and mosque ablaze with fervor, and...
"From far away across the pond, a villain worthy of James Bond
The playboy wank, Mujahedeen, the richest kid you've ever seen
set up for life and what may come, recruiting fools for martyrdom..."
...moves the tragedy into deeper darkness.
In the comics medium's version of "Guernica," Iraq is bombed in a horrifying double-page spread. The harshness of Jouflas's style powerfully depicts the convulsions of destruction. Soon American troops are shattered as well, weeping and bleeding into the desert sands, while words point out
"You're just a servant that they mock, bow down and serve Prince Chickenhawk
Perform his ugly venal toil, to give up your life's blood for oil..."
Jouflas concludes with mockery of his "delusional at best" task - there is much humor in "Son of Vision Thing," but of the blackest hue - showing himself as a madman at the easel, one leg chained.
"It's all the truth, I told no lies, like Renfield, now I dine on flies
The booby hatch, a padded cell, is where I make my cartoon Hell..."
With its Expressionism, symbolism, and beyond-caricature distortions, the macabre/humorous treatment in "Son of Vision Thing," while still dealing with specific individuals and situations, takes events into a mythic dimension the way as done in the great Lynd Ward's
God's Man, or the Crucifixions of Matthias Grünewald. Visually intense, bold in its outspokenness, this first issue of Ted Jouflas's
Ape is angry, sorrowful, and above all, heartfelt comics art, not to be missed.
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