I want to take a moment to introduce our latest reviewer at The Nexus, Jimmy Lin. I hope all of our readers enjoy Jimmy’s work as much as I do. -Chris
Reviewer: Jimmy Lin
Story and Art: Daniel Merlin Goodbrey
I’d like to preface my inaugural review with a few notes. My beat on the ‘Nexus will include, but not be exclusive to, some of the lesser-known stuff out there. This includes books by popular writers and artists, independent mini-comics, and the occasional single-story webcomic. The comics I’ll review will skirt the mainstream, if not avoid it altogether, so be warned – there’s some strange stuff coming in this space. Are you ready? Let’s delve into some of this funky stuff.
Eagle Award winner Dan Merlin Goodbrey is an interesting fella with a lot of interesting thoughts. One look at e-merl.com and you’ll draw the same conclusion – comics that read forwards and backwards, surreal fever-dream narratives, and multi-linear stories. He has a truly original mind that goes into some interesting places.
Like the town of Insanity, for instance. The Last Sane Cowboy is the story of a woman looking for her brother in an mescal-trip Western town. A mini-comic written in five “episodes,” LSC is one of Merlin’s “Unfolded Earth” stories. It’s certainly the most linear tale; our gun-slinging heroine has a conversation with horses, has a shootout with six skulls, encounters the ghost of Abraham Lincoln, has an incident involving The Scorpion Hat, and finally meets up The Last Sane Cowboy in Insanity. Just another everyday tale, right?
By separating its elements from its particulars, one could argue that The Last Sane Cowboy is a standard Western tale. The protagonist is a gunslinger in a strange town. She gets information, has a couple of conflicts, and heads for a final showdown. The twist is that the conflict Merlin builds up towards is with the only sane resident of Insanity.
On the other hand, the surreal particulars are what make this such a great read. For those not in the know, one affect of psychedelic drugs is that details take on significance. In LSC, the Western’s standard background details become the forward elements. Sis converses with horses; skulls become menacing and belligerent; a dead man points the way (okay, ghosts aren’t usual Western fare); a scorpion is the town bully; and the title character could be an extra in any cowboy flick. By the time you meet the brother (a mind manifesting as a goldfish), you don’t blink twice.
LSC is visually interesting, as well. Goodbrey favors two-tone art with a clip-art feel, but there’s something very human about his illustrations. There’s very little motion-to-motion in his framework; instead, Goodbrey switches angles with nearly every panel. It’s artfully done, though – the transitions are smooth and natural, instead of feeling disjointed and unconnected. This is a technique that that’s often unsuccessfully employed in comics, but Dan the Man pulls it off with grace and panache.
It’s no wonder that The Last Sane Cowboy won this year’s Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics. I recommend picking this trippy, fun book if you run into Merlin at a con. If you’re up to the challenge, check out e-merl.com and expand your mind as to the possibilites of comics and storytelling. Dan Merlin Goodbrey will take you places that you haven’t been yet, and it’s a great trip to take.
