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Gabrielle Bell's newest mini comic, Book of Lies,
is the latest in a growing number of consistently outstanding
mini comics from the author. In the space of four self-contained
titles, Bell has proven she is one of the best mini comic
artists around, with each new book revealing more of what
she can do. Her third release, Book of Black, marked
a brief departure from auto-bio mini comics, coupled with
a flair for visual and narrative experimentation. With Book
of Lies, Bell keeps the experimentation (which is now
more ambitious and as before, completely successful), but
melds it with auto-bio (and pseudo auto-bio) work.
Art-wise, Bell is in top form. While the book's backgrounds
and technical figures are richly crosshatched and detailed,
her figures are clear and simple. This technique provides the
desired effect of having the characters stand out, but also
allows the book to gain in atmosphere by not completely ignoring
the background. It's obvious Bell can draw well, which doesn't
make her an oddity in the world of comics. Like any good artist,
it's what they do with their craft that makes them special.
My favorite scene in Book of Lies is a great example
of Bell's examination of visual narrative, although I'm sure
Bell did not intend it as an examination of any sort. She intended
it as a great comic, which it is. Let me try to explain it:
Bell introduces us to a woman and a child in a very dreamlike
atmosphere. After a couple of pages of musing, the woman decides
to take a shower, only to realize that the public shower at
hand has pleasant music playing. Bell then combines the flow
of water from the faucet with musical notes and unexpected dancing,
making for a beautiful scene.
The specifics of the story are just as well conceived and executed,
but that scene is one that stood out for me. It represents an
innovative idea, small enough not to be essential, but perfect
enough in Bell's hands to be indispensable.
Not all of Bell's comics are dreamlike and sweet. Much of Book
of Lies contains the type of surreal, self-deprecating auto-bio
comics I first saw in Book of Sleep. It's not always
clear if Bell's tales are true or not, but her auto-bio work
is the best around, aside from John Porcellino, who is working
in a completely different style. It is heartening though that,
despite this affinity for auto-bio, Bell does her most ambitious
and best work in different narrative styles. One gets the sense
from the variety of stories in Book of Lies that Bell
has a lot of different ambitions, thankfully with the craft
and creativity to pull them off.
Bell is gaining a reputation for putting out wonderful comics.
I now look forward to a new Gabrielle Bell comic as much as
any other work. I've said that Bell gets better with each new
book, but that hardly matters when the current type of work
she does is excellent. Anyone interested in great mini comics,
or great cartooning in general, deserves to find out what Bell's
work is about.
Copyright © 2001 Austin English. All Rights
Reserved.
Austin English is *spark-online's window
into the world of serial art.
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