06/11/2018

Caleb Orecchio here with thoughts on Michael Comeau’s, Winter Cosmos, and more!

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Despite not having a frame of reference for the punk rock zine culture aesthetic Comeau emulates with Winter Cosmos (published by thee great Koyama Press), I really enjoyed it. Every spread is interesting. There is not a visual dull moment therein. Even after I read the book, I went back to flip through the images to “read” it again. The experience of the book is like reading an issue of What If…  starring the Fantastic Four exclusively in Kirby’s collage-y Negative Zone. I can’t help but assume Comeau was inspired by this or some similar Negative Zone-related musing when he decided to make a comic about scientists in space.

 

I had a good time reading this book. There is plenty of wit and humor within the writing, but also within the visual aspects. There is something both inherently funny and inherently fascinating about collage depicting science fiction. The pacing of the read itself is excellent. Even if the book were wordless, Comeau’s visual narrative is strong enough to pace the reader in a way that most wordless comics can’t due to their narrative approach (i.e. leaning on a cinematic or literary idea of narrative rather than an inherently comic book idea of narrative). Winter Cosmos is dynamic enough to hold a reader on a purely visual level and that, to me, is a high compliment to a cartoonist.

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if you don’t know, now you know

• Frank Santoro’s new book, Pittsburgh, is out in France and we have round up of French reviews here on the site, as well as where you can purchase the book if you’re in the states from Pittsburgh’s own Copacetic Comics.
• Speaking of which, see what the the great Copacetic Comics Company has new for June HERE on the site!
  Oh look! You can even buy Winter’s Cosmos by Michael Comeau! Did I mention this comes highly recommend?
• Did you catch the TCJ interview with The Beguiling owner, Peter Birkemoe?
• Process Party has a Columbus, OH scene report.

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Suzy and Cecil – 6-11-18 – by Sally Ingraham