« To Buy or... aaahh, Forget It | Main | Miscellany »
June 30, 2005
Subway Reading: Nat Turner
Nat Turner #1 - I have been known to defend Kyle Baker against accusations that he was "phoning it in" on some of his other projects. After seeing him go to town on the black and white artwork in his new self-published Nat Turner series, I may have to change my mind about those previous efforts. Working without the benefit of words (except for an occasional footnote), Baker shows off his considerable storytelling chops. This introductory chapter in the story of rebellious slave Nat Turner focuses on the terror of his mother's abduction from Africa and transport to America. The horror and drama of the story is not only communicated by the action; it is also reflected in the taut body language of the characters and the tense compositions of every panel.
As much as I liked the drawing, I was not as thrilled with the overall package. The book is printed on some kind of off-white, uncoated stock that seemed pretty close to newsprint. I see where Baker was going with this; the paper and the old-fashioned type treatments were supposed to create an antiquated look that would match up with the setting of the story. For me, at least, this was not entirely successful. The drawings and gray tones with which they were colored got swallowed up by the paper, and the result was more distracting than evocative. (For the record, I have the same problem with Image's Sea of Red.) Baker has come to rely heavily on Photoshop for tones and other effects, and his work in Nat Turner is no exception. I don't have a problem with that, of course, but the obviously computer-aided images clash with the old-timey paper and design elements. In my opinion, it's a gimmick that falls flat more often than not.
Production-related nit-picks aside, this was an impressive bit of cartooning in the service of a dramatic and important story.
Looking for some cheap comics? Why not check out my latest round of eBay auctions? Recent runs of Sleeper, Ultimate FF, and Incredible Hulk are yours for the bidding. Daredevil fans take note: I am also selling a full story arc from Bendis and Alex Maleev's run on Sam & Twitch.
Posted by jdonelson_nyc at June 30, 2005 04:46 PM
Comments
I loved this comic! Reviewed it this week; didn't have any problem with the paper quality thanks to the emotional impact of Baker's storytelling. Rather pay $3 for this sort of thing than the Infinite House of Corporate Crossover stuff.
Posted by: Guy LeCharles Gonzalez at July 5, 2005 02:38 PM