|
ESSENTIAL // 9.06.02 I
DIE AT MIDNIGHT I
DIE AT MIDNIGHT
What if your life became so bad, that the only foreseeable way to
end your misery is to overdose on pills? What if your main reason
for self-inflicted euthanasia is because your girlfriend-who you
love with all your heart-has left you for another man because she
thinks you are 'mentally unstable'? What if that very girlfriend
who drove you to suicide showed up at your doorstep, begging for
a second chance, seconds after you'd swallowed a bottle of pills?
What if you couldn't tell her about it, because then she'd know
that you really are 'mentally unstable'? And what if, the only cure
to be found (and needs to be taken before midnight) lies on the
other side of town in the hands of a woman who is being chased by
a murderous lunatic who is hell bent on preventing her from getting
the antidote to you? These
are the questions that hook you into Kyle Baker's I DIE AT MIDNIGHT.
These are the things that sell the book. Honestly. That one paragraph
should be all I have to write for this ESSENTIAL. You should-in
a just and right world-only need to read that one paragraph to be
sold on the book. I
know I was. I'd
heard about Kyle Baker, I'd seen his books. But I'd never bought
any. Hell, I'd never even looked past the bright covers to see what
his interior pencils were like. But then I read a review-or part
of one (the first paragraph only), -of I DIE AT MIDNIGHT and was
sold. Two days later I went down to my local comic book shop and
picked up the small, 48-page book. Someone casually and discreetly
mentioned to me that maybe, just maybe THE COWBOY WALLY SHOW would
be a better book to buy… But
I had my mind set on seeing this yarn, on seeing this terrific and
brilliant story unfold. I could already see the guy swallowing the
pills. I could picture the panic infused look on his face when his
girlfriend says she wants to get back together. I knew exactly how
I wanted this book to be based on a quick paragraph blurb seen on
the Internet. And you know what? Kyle Baker doesn't disappoint.
In
fact, the book is far better than I'd imagined it. How often does
that happen? How often does a book you've heard so much about actually
exceed all your expectations and preconceived thoughts? I DIE AT
MIDNIGHT did this. It was funnier than I imagined. Cleverer than
I imagined. Better drawn than I imagined. Better paced than I imagined.
I'll
stop on pacing because that's a really important aspect of the book.
It's one of the things Baker excels at. I DIE AT MIDNIGHT isn't
your typical funny book. Not only is it not a superhero book (ha
ha ha), it isn't even laid out like a normal comic book. There are
no speech balloons or captions covering over Baker's beautifully
expressive, cartoon figures. There are no words pasted over any
of the outlandish, colored panels. All the words are to the side
of the panels, or beneath them, set out in text, in prose. It's
a style that's been done before, sure. But nearly every time I see
it implemented, I groan. I hate having to read the words in comics
separated from text; I hate having to make the transition from pictures
to words. It messes up the all important rhythm. But
not in I DIE AT MIDNIGHT. If anything, it improves the rhythm. See,
the great majority of the panels in the book are the same size,
and most of the pages are set out in equal 6-panel (or modified
6-panel) grids. There may be one sentence below each panel or a
whole column of text to the side of a series of panels. There aren't
too many words. In fact, this comic is quite sparse on dialogue. Most
of the story is action and relies completely on Baker's excellent
(and capable) drawing ability to pull the narrative through the
crazy ride. What words are in this book, seem almost irrelevant
to the actual plot as the whole story could be followed from start
to finish by just looking at the pictures. Baker's
drawing style is a Disney-esque animated one. The characters have
funny faces and big eyes and long, expressive appendages which they
wave in exaggerated and over the top gestures. Many of the backgrounds
(and some of the objects in the comic) appear to be computer generated.
Although the mixture of 2D and 3D art doesn't always work in this
book, there is a wonderful makes-it-look-easy-and-simple-yet-secretly-you-know-that-there-is-no-way-in-hell-you-could-ever-draw-in-the-same-stlye-as-Kyle-Baker
aspect to the art. The
magic of that art, is the same magic that's in the text: it's simple
and clean and easy to follow. The story is like that too. It's a
simple idea-albeit a brilliant one-and the whole book is easy to
follow (unlike the rambling nature of this review which is about
to be put out of its misery by the impending ending paragraph and
an overdose of pills…). The banter between characters is witty
and realistic and keeps with the stylistic tone of the rest of the
book, in that it's funny as all get out and, rather simple and clean
as well. The whole book in fact, from the writing to the art to
the fine cover and binding is just one, simple and clean package. The
basic premise of the tale could lead to a number of different stories
depending on where the author wants to take it. It could be a tragedy.
It could be an action-adventure. It could be a comedy. It could
be all these things, which is the correct answer. Baker writes the
story in such a manner that it's tragic where it's supposed to be
tragic, exciting where it should be exciting and funny where a hard
dose of black comedy is needed. He plays all the right notes with
this tale by directing the narrative down a long dark, stretch of
desolate highway that is impossible to see the end of yet beautiful
to drive through, despite its trash filled roads. I DIE AT MIDNIGHT is a straightforward roller coaster ride that still has plenty of turns and loops and sidesplitting gags. As the pages of I DIE AT MIDNIGHT flip away, and as the clock in the story looms ever nearer to midnight, you'll find yourself wondering just one thing: Why you had to read through this whole rambling ESSENTIAL when you should have just been sold by the first paragraph? I
DIE AT MIDNIGHT is available for order from your friendly local
retailer with order code STAR105250. If your retailer can't or won't
order this book for you, we suggest you find
a better store. Discuss this column on the SAVANT forum. |