#shea hennum

[koyamapress]

The A.V. Club reviews GG’s “sterling comic on a silver platter” I’m Not Here.

“The only way to engage with I’m Not Here is to take it as it comes, to sit with it, to listen to it speak. Giving yourself so totally over to a text may seem difficult, but it’s also commensurably rewarding.” — Shea Hennum, The A.V. Club

Read the whole review here!

[sheahisself]

Paste asked me about my favorite comics. 

[kushkomikss]

"The spectrum of work contained in its pages is vast. The stories run the gamut of accessibility, and complexity, and the diversity of aesthetics and styles is peerless."

š! #22 'Fashion'  got reviewed at The A.V. Club by Shea Hennum!

[sheahisself]

High-Rise (1975) - JG Ballard

Lord of the Flies never really jived with me. Its central thesis is that people will return to a primitive state of lawless anarchy (or establish animistic, tribalistic groups cohered by violence) if they don’t have the comforts of modern society/the enforcers of folkways. But, like...it was a book about kids who were stranded on an island. Kids WITH all the amenities of modern society think it’s G to spit gum in your hair, pants you in the hall, and casually lob every racial slur under the sun at you for shits ‘n’ gigs. So the book was never convincing to me because it dramatically stacked the deck. 

But JG Ballard’s High-Rise, which I just recently finished, makes the same basic argument in a more frightening and compelling fashion. Its characters are affluent, wealthy adults; its story is situated in the very heart of modern (at the time) London; its characters not only have access to all modern amenities, but they actively reject them. It’s not a set of course that makes you say “Of course they would behave like that!” Ballard actually has to work to convince you of his argument; he doesn’t juke the stats in his favor.    There’s a psychogeographical sub-text in the novel, too, like the very structure of the high-rise is driving people to insanity--like the artifacts that populate HP Lovecraft stories. It’s only ever kind of alluded to, but I got the impression that the physical design of the space was corrupting people. Just a stray thought I had reading that I haven’t really developed much (anyone know if Ballard was hot for psychogeography like Debord?). High-Rise also takes its argument further by not only arguing that people *would* revert to a primal state in certain situations but that people crave it. They need an excuse or a justification for this devolution, but once given, they’ll take it. This coupled with the acts that these people commit in this state amps up the groddy, horror of it. Ballard’s argument is a full-measure version of William Goldings, which is cool.  Anyway. Kind of loose thoughts, but I liked the book, curious to see the flick, and I needed an excuse to talk about that + vocalize my disdain for Lord of the Flies. 

[sheahisself]

I recommend some Euro comics over at Paste. 

[sheahisself]

The conversation of the economics of comics is an infinitely complicated one that is deeply tied to overall economic health, market health, distribution models, sales numbers, price points, overhead costs, fairness or unfairness of publishing deals, number of creators involved, and then how gender identity, racial identity, sexual orientation all intersect to effect any of the above aspects....So what we need are better studies—more rigorous and complex than what David Harper’s done—better investigative journalists who will actually go and seek out that information, cartoonists who are willing to dish, and we need to ask more questions about the data when we get it (What does this mean? What does this mean in this context?). At the same time, we need to accept that making a living is hard when a lot of people are fighting over a little business (most small business close within their first year, after all) and stop pretending like comics is any different from any other business. Until then, we can’t have a real conversation about the economics of comics—plain and simple.

I put on my Paul Krugman hat 

[sheahisself]

[Adrian Tomine's] characters’ lives are only seen through these quick vignettes, and everything we learn about them is gleaned entirely from obscured facial expressions. They move through the world like their shoes are made of lead, and the mesmerizing power of Tomine’s stories is that each character’s struggle to take each heavy, hard-fought step is given the weight and time it deserves. Their struggles and emotions are universal, and they serve as a mirror to the audience. His work may make some readers cringe, and that’s not why everyone reads comics. But pushing past that, there may be a rewarding experience that’s different for you than it was for me.

I wrote about Optic Nerve #14

[sheahisself]

With that in mind, my prediction for the series finale is that...the 92nd episode will...focus solely on Don, and nothing will happen. He will reconcile himself to his ennui and find happiness in ephemerally living in the moment. He will accept his true identity, Dick Whitman, and he will drop any of the pretentious play-acting that’s mediated his interactions with the world for the last eight years. But basically, it’s gonna be a plotless derive and I’m gonna love it.

How I predicted Mad Men would end, May 15th.