Crudely Drawn Naked People

With a title like that, you can probably see where this is going.

This short volume, released in 2005, serves as an epilogue to Brown’s “Girlfriend Trilogy” which comprises his three autobiographical books, Clumsy, Unlikely and Any Easy Intimacy. It describes events which occurred over Christmas and New Year 2003-2004.

Perhaps the focus of this book is Jeff’s slowly re-kindling relationship with Allisyn, the girl from Unlikely. Jeff has moved on in life, but a series of the usual coincidences brings the two of them back into contact, both wondering if they’ve changed enough to make another go of it. Now, I won’t spoil the ending for you, but let me put it like this - it wouldn’t make for a particularly dramatic story if they did and everything was fine, would it? Interspersed throughout the book are encounters with other women of various eligibility that Jeff, by his own admission, lives and dies over. It’s essentially a story about being too wrapped up in your relationships. Still, calling it a “story” is perhaps overly charitable. While the thread of his relationship with Allisyn neatly wraps the book up, large parts of it are vignettes/chapters devoted to other women entirely.

What I enjoy most about EGITEOTWFM (besides the ridiculously large acronym) is the size of the artwork. We’re still on 4 panels to each fairly small page, but these are huge, very clearly printed panels we’re talking about. It somehow manages to realise Brown’s work even better than before. Due to the dates, the book takes place in Winter and this really showcases Brown’s talents for conveying the nuances that bring things to life. The level of detail is both remarkable and satisfying - you can practically feel the frost on the page sometimes.

Given that Jeff is now married and has a child, it’s probably fair to say that this is the final word on all things female from him. Assuming he doesn’t want to tell the story of his current relationship, that is, but in fairness the man deserves his secrets (and christ knows there appear to be previous few of those left) so as entertaining as it’s been, I think that for now, that chapter is complete.

Buy Every Girl… from Amazon (UK)
Buy Every Girl… from Amazon (US)
View Preview Pages for Every Girl… at Top Shelf

You Ain’t No Dancer, volume 2, came out a year ago this month, October 2006, only shortly after I purchased the previous volume. Like the previous volume, it’s packed with indie talent, in a fairly unconventional package that forces the use of a widescreen format. While that’s fairly standard for a certain kind of strip (Webcomic creator Mitch Clem is undoubtedly right at home) it’s not something you see in the mainstream, or even indie mainstream very often, and it gives these books a distinctive look. The strips themselves are also fairly short - 23 stories in 95 pages, and only one or two get past the 6 page mark. To New Reliable’s credit, they’re really crammed a lot into this.

Jeffrey Brown’s story in YAND Vol. 2 is entitled “Chimney Preference” and revisits the familiar setting of the “Young Jeff” autobiographical comics that I’ve previously discussed in the review of Minisulk. It’s a 2-page comedy piece that makes the most of Brown’s style, though I have to admit if you’re buying this collection just for the Jeffrey Brown in it, you might not be fully satisfied by 2 pages and one joke. It’s less of a snack, more a morsel. That said, I have to admit, in these kind of strips half the humour, for me, comes from the expression on Young Jeff’s face, which is inherently hilarious for reasons I can’t begin to articulate.

If 2 pages isn’t enough brown for you, well, then, good news, because he’s also painted the cover! A wraparound cover, no less, depicting Young Jeff and his brother in the playground at autumn, a rare example of coloured work from Brown.

Now, 2 pages is a bit small for a full review, so let’s quickly look elsewhere in the anthology. My favourites of the remainder were The Eve Of, by Blaise Laramee, and Phil McAndrew’s Sharp Young Minds, both stories united by a theme of childhood exploration and cameraderie, the former going with a confessional psychological tone, and the latter with a more humourous turn.

Overall, volume 2 feels more disjointed than the original, and contains fewer “name” creators to put you on familiar ground for the fairly steep price point. With generally less conventional material, even fans of the first volume might find this challenging, but as ever it remains a brilliant way to expose yourself to new creators and stories. As with the previous volume, the quality of both is consistently high, but the quantity of work means that it’s impossible for everything to click - given the range of work available, don’t expect to come into this and love everything, just consider that what you do enjoy is going to be worth the price, and the rest of it is bonus material.

Buy You Ain’t No Dancer from New Reliable (US & Int.)
You Ain’t No Dancer v2 Preview Page (Jeff Brown)
You Ain’t No Dancer v2 Preview Page (Blaise Larmee)
You Ain’t No Dancer v2 Preview Page (Phil McAndrew)

Another week, another excuse for not updating. This week I had a whole bunch of (paid) work taking up my weekend and Monday so I had to postpone the work I do gratis for you gentle readers. Naturally I would’ve updated today, but I’m going to go and see Neil Gaiman do a talk at the Criterion Theatre in London, so I’m afraid I won’t be able to do a review tonight, either.

In which case, as is traditional, I’ll instead give you some further reading on the subject of Jeffrey Brown.

It has been brought to my attention that there exists a documentary entitled Drawing between the lines. The official site says this:

Drawing Between the Lines is a short documentary examining the autobiographical world of Chicago cartoonist Jeffrey Brown. Whether sitting in his apartment, riding the L-train, or traveling the country promoting his work, Brown spends his time filling the pages of his sketchbooks. His graphic novels provide a humorous, yet intensely personal look at love, sex and relationships. Drawing Between the Lines explores Brown’s candid approach to storytelling and unconventional method of cartooning and provides insight from friends, fans and fellow cartoonists.

There don’t appear to be any screenings scheduled just yet, but keep an eye on their site in case any come to light. It looks fantastic, and while the chances of ever seeing it outside the US seem fairly slim at this point, who knows what the future may bring?

I hope that’s entertaining, anyway. Come back in a few days for a new review!