Glamourpuss #25 – Quick Review

By: Dave Sim (writer/artist)

The Story: Zootanapuss takes on a new upstart Canadian fashion model.

Review: Another strong and funny issue for Glamourpuss.  I honestly don’t understand why any comic fan that isn’t 100% devoted to men-in-tights doesn’t check out this series.

Just the first seven pages are “worth it” as Zootanapuss continues her battle of wits against a new contender.  For one thing, this stuff is funny.  I almost never laugh at comic books, yet Sim is again able to make me snicker aloud.  Sim makes fun of how Canadians speak (“Oh fer sher!”) and the rest is just the typical biting banter between the buxom Zootanapuss and her new enemy.  I don’t know why I find it so funny to see Zootanapuss making fun of the youngster’s smoking habits as she, in turn, gets ripped for the cellulite on her thighs, but I do.  And along the way, Sim works in jokes about copyright infringement, performance enhancing drugs and hockey-loving Canadians.

And the art is spectacular again.  The Zootanapuss character is drawn in a more comic-booky style.  What makes her fun is that she’s a little heavy, not fat but she’s got some meat on her.  In contrast, the way Sim draws her supermodel opponents is hyper-realism.  It’s amazing that a man can draw something like this with pen and ink.  As I’ve said before, if everyone could draw like Mr. Sim, there would never have been a need for Xerox machines.  And that’s all the more amazing if you look at what his Cerberus comic looked like.

What put this issue over the top was the finale.  Part of the attraction of this title is that it is completely unrestrained.  Sim has a reputation for being a tad on the nutty side and he has absolutely no editor on this title.  So, if Sim wants to talk about something in this book, by goodness, that’s what we’re going to talk about.  Immediately after finishing Zootanapuss’ adventures, we hit a page titled “The Adventures of Bi-Curious Avril Lavigne.”  It starts with a discussion between a photo-realistic iguana (yes, the lizard) and a can of Colt 45 (yes…a talking can of malt liquor) over how to word the title of the story such that it is parody/fair-use and not anything that’ll get them sued by Ms. Lavigne.  It’s just nuts.  Then the story starts and I honestly wondered if Mr. Sim was going to draw a couple of photo-realistic pages of Avril Lavigne getting it on with Taylor Swift (who is also in the sequence for some reason).

Glamourpuss #24 – Quick Review

By: Dave Sim (writer/artist/letters)

The Story: It’s the final chapter of Zootanapuss vs. High Fashion Models and another episode in the “death of Alex Raymond” backup.

The Review: Glamourpuss remains highly enjoyable for its bizarre nature.  It’s hard to even describe what this comic is like for the uninitiated, but it’s worth checking out for everyone.

The first half of this comic continues the “duel” between Sim’s Zootanapuss character and supermodels.  Each page features a model who is drawn in a highly photorealistic style.  “Photorealism” can be a dirty word in comics, but (in this case) you don’t get the sense that Sim is inking over a copy of a photograph. It’s more that he had a model sitting there and copied her perfectly.  Sim is an AMAZING draftsperson.  If everyone were this skilled, humanity would never have invented Xerox machines.  Each one of these models is posed in one of those unnatural positions you see in clothing catalogs.  And then each page also features the Zootanapuss character who dresses a little like Zatanna from DC Comics: fishnets, top-coat, tall black boots, etc.  But, Zootanapuss isn’t photorealistic, she’s a normal comic character with an ample bosom and hips.  She’s Joan from Mad Men.  And, in every panel she is giving the supermodel hell about something, “Ahoy!  Rib Cage!  What seekest thou in thy Louis Vuitton bag?  Family-size appetite-suppressants-in-a-drum?” or “Wherefore art thou so bundled up within doors?” (to a model wearing a coat inside).  All the while, Zootanapuss’ pet rabbit is making offhand jokes about vomiting in said Louis Vuitton bag and the supermodels have the most vapid dialog you could imagine.

Glamourpuss #23 – Review

By: Dave Sim (writer, artist, lettering)

The Story: It’s a face-off between Zootanapuss and fashion models.

Review: Man, the art in Glamourpuss is divine.  I almost don’t care what the story is about when I’m looking at Dave Sim’s incredibly detailed linework.  His lineart for the fashion models in this issue reminds me a little bit of the 50’s when magazine ads had to be drawn by hand because the technology to reproduce photographs was awful.  What’s impressive about Sim’s work is not so much that the models are beautiful (they are) or that they all look like unique individual women (they do) or that they’re wearing fashions you could really see on a model (they are), it’s the fine lines he uses to construct these ladies and backgrounds.  It’s hard to imagine the time investment and attention to detail required to do some of this elegant, crosshatched shading.  There are no other comics I read that have this almost obsessive looking attention to detail.

And, it isn’t just the pretty ladies.  Sim’s Zootanapuss character is drawn in a slightly different style.  She’s all hips and curves, but even there, the manic attention to detail is evident.  Did you know that it’s hard to draw fishnet stockings on a lady?  They have to curve around a lady’s thighs you know.  And, the back matter of the comic is also shows just excellent drafting skills at drawing 1950’s cars, houses, etc.  This comic is worth it for the art alone.

Judenhass (Graphic Novel) – Review

By Dave Sim (writer, artist)

Judenhass is the most sobering experience I’ve had in a comic book this year. It’s a painful reminder of the past – more specifically, the atrocities that happened to the Jews during World War II. Dave Sim, gives us a running narrative of this event, shedding light on worldly views of the Jews then and before. It’s not just about Nazis, but about how people have negatively perceived Jews throughout history.

From the opening pages, Sim points out that without Jews, there  wouldn’t be a comic book industry. Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, Joe Shuster, Bob Kane, Will Eisner, Jerry Seigel – these are all Jewish creators and key pillars to the kingdom of comics. Can you imagine a Marvel or DC Universe without their guidance or souls? Me neither.

After making this note, Sim brings the grim reality of the Holocaust to the page. Using many photographs for reference, he painstakingly renders horrible images from concentration camps with an eerie sense of accuracy. What we see isn’t pretty, nor is it supposed to be. What happened is real, and I can’t imagine how hard it must have been to work on these pages. The eyes of many of the persons illustrated in this book tell a story by themselves. At many moments, Sim begins at one point of a person like the face, and slowly brings the camera back over a series of panels, revealing the defeated, tortured soul for us to see. It’s heart wrenching and moving.

And while the imagery in this book is powerful stuff, the narrative and quotes researched and provided by Sim are more so. He’s done a lot of homework for this book, making sure to point out every acknowledgement and source with his bibliography. Quotes taken from famous persons like Mark Twain, H. G. Wells, Russian proverbs, Voltaire, and even the Catholic Church. You’d think what they have to say might be inspiring, but it’s less than flattering. These quotes purely show that even the most highly regarded persons and institutions in society have had their share of anti-Semitism, or as Dave Sim poignantly notes, “Judenhass” or Jewish Hatred.

This book is a real eye opener, and is something that needs to be read and shared. It’s too important to ignore, and it’s something we all must come to understand so that something like this never happens again… to the Jews or any other race. (Grade: A)

– J. Montes