#being being

Here is the ‘Being Being’ from Jason Overby.  This is a fantastic book.  I had to read through it a good 4 or 5 times before I could write about it, its actually the main reason that this blog stalled for a bit (well, it also stalled because I’ve been on the road nonstop, having reached the peak of my busy season drawing caricatures for events and parties).  It took a lot of reads to fully comprehend the book, it also took a lot of reads because it is a tiny book so it takes a bit of concentration to stay with it; you have this tiny little book in your hands and it doesn’t take up much of your field of vision so if a cat walks by or there is an explosion by then one is distracted and goes and pets the cat or one sees the explosion and runs away from it.  But it is a real humdinger of a book.  I know I say humdinger a lot but hey, comic books are humdingers. 

Overby has a wonderfully abstract style that is like a mix of Warren Craghead, Tom Hart, and Stefan Gruber.  The fact that his work evokes those late ninties early aughts for me did not come as a surprise when I discovered he’s 41 years old, so he totally wuz probably digging on some Hart and Gruber back in the day.  He wonderfully and skritch-ily carves out little scenes that are easily recognizable through all of its chaotic and brittle line because its still quite minimal in its execution.  And the motherfucker knows how to pace, thats the real fun.  Reading the comics in my little downtown studio with all the traffic and hustle of the city out my door and all its noise and chaos turned to silence.  The pacing really is poetic and stuffs cotton in my ears.  The most successful at inducing a dream like state was the strip that was completely without drawings, just paneled words, that was a real dang successful piece of comix making. 

He does strive at times to really make sure you know these are ‘intellectual comics’  and I vomited at the fact that the comic has not one but two references to Charlie Kaufman.  There is not elitism in its lofty logics and its crystalline thought patterns so it does not bear that particular burnish of the intellectual but it does have a youthful, “look, I’m really pushing thought and emotion here,” vibe of the insulated collegiate who actually thinks, because of years in their bubble, that anyone cares one shit stain what they think but in the end it is always tied together with a certain playfulness (those moments where I really see similarities to Gruber) that ends up calming any raised eyebrows or cynicism and results in an enjoyable read.  

Hey Overby, do you read John Hankiewicz’s comix at all?  Though he takes a totally different approach in the artwork there is a certain poetry to the language that I feel you could take from, beef up your monologues a bit out of the self and into a more overbearing abstraction.

But yeah, real sweet stuff here.  The centerpiece of the book, the comic about the dude who’s head becomes a bomb (or does it?) is a real power of a work.  It is the best example of his work, taking all the tropes that are present in the other pieces and combining them into a real solid piece.  As in that piece is like a serious museum quality piece of work, great comic goddammit.  

And, just cuz I gotta say, there was some trouble getting my hands on the comic.  I ordered it from Gridlords, the publisher, and never received it.  I ended up contacting Overby, who apologized and sent me a free copy after getting my money refunded as well.  That was a real cool thing to do.  As I dug the comic so much I went back to gridlords and spent another 50 bucks on other stuff they’ve published.  That stuff also was never sent.  I emailed a couple times to no response, then opened a paypal dispute to still no response, and since then have been refunded the money.  I’d rather have the comics but it seems if you buy the comic you do it at your own risk, here’s the link: