It may not seem fair to do another comic by Bob Fingerman so soon after plugging Minimum Wage (see Good Read #11), but I just had to tell everyone to rush out and buy this sort-of-new graphic novel.
I say sort-of-new because it was originally published as a miniseries by Dark Horse in 1994. I'm not sure why it took four years and another publishing company for it to be collected, but I'm glad it has been. Fingerman's current publisher, Fantagraphics, has produced a nice looking volume with an understated cover and a blurb from Will Eisner, who calls it "a grim and ambitious work."
If this were really new, it would be quite a departure for Fingerman. As it is, I guess it's an early work (I'm not sure how long he's been around) that loosely fits the familiar genre territory of comics while showing the directions he was more interested in going. The plot that drives the book is pure science fiction - a nuclear disaster than leaves a man horribly burned and disfigured, yet alive; a famous surgeon who has perfected a brain transplant operation, placing old rich people's brains in young bodies; not one but two illegal conspiracies on the part of big corporations. A far cry from the ordinary, day-to-day world of Rob and Sylvia in Minimum Wage.
And yet, it's not really so different after all. The science fiction plot is developed in a grittily realistic way. And fans of Fingerman's other works won't be a bit surprised that the supposed plot often fades into the background as we observe the characters doing quite ordinary things like sitting in a coffee shop, talking. The fantasy is never too far in the background - the whole premise of a middle-aged black man trapped in the body of a white teenage girl is always uppermost. But the X-Files type story of how he/she got this way and what's going on back at the lab seems unimportant through most of the book, though by the end it takes an important and rewarding twist.
The art is good, but . . . hmmm. I have a hard time putting my finger on it, exactly, but I'm ambivalent about it. My first reaction was "It's not as good as Minimum Wage," but then I looked at it again and thought "Wow! He's really doing something different here."
One review quoted on the back compares it to Spain Rodriguez, and there is that element present. The heavy blacks and blocky faces, in particular, recall Spain. It's a much more realistic style than Minimum Wage, but also not as pleasing to the eye. This is not a criticism, because I believe the off-putting, disturbing feeling is intentional. You're not supposed to look at this think "Oh, what pretty pictures!" It's not a pretty tale.
I'm very wishy-washy about it, though. I've only had it a day or so, and I can't make up my mind. I go from being wildly enthusiastic about the art to feeling that it shows Fingerman's potential but doesn't quite live up to its promise. Ask me again tomorrow, and I'll have another opinion. For now, I'm deducting half a star for what I see are faults in the art, without which this would definitely be a four-star book.
All in all, this is a fine book, and essential to anyone who is following Fingerman's career who missed it the first time around (like me). Also highly recommended for anyone who likes stories about brains. We run the gamut here, from males transplanted into females to disembodied brains being kept alive and communicating through a machine. We also get a self-referential sendup of the old comic routine about a lesbian trapped in a man's body. What more can I say? Run right out and buy this!
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