Drawing Blood #4 // Review
It’s the New York City Comic Con. The creator of GTFO Girl is talking to some geezer in a cheap mask. She’s telling him what she really thinks about Shane Bookman--the guy who created Ragdolls...how he’s a total sell-out. Then he pulls up the mask. Turns out that the guy she’s talking to is Shane Bookman. If you haven’t heard of either of these comics, it’s because they’re fictional and you haven’t been reading Drawing Blood. The fourth issue of the comic book industry-based indie drama dives a bit more into the nature of fandom, creators’ aspirations and the nature of art as brought to the page by writers Kevin Eastman and David Avallone. Artist Ben Bishop does Eastman-inspired artwork that is brought to life with the colors of Tomi Varga.
The creator had put together this simple idea: cats mutate and become The Ragdolls. Everyone loves them. They become big. A couple of broke kids looking to make money doing comics turn it into a big thing that people love. That love spills over into something MUCH bigger and before long there’s a bit movie being made. The director says The Ragdolls are actually space aliens. Fans feel betrayed. Now the creator has to answer to the fans’ anger at one of the largest annual comic book conventions in the U.S.
Eastman and Avallone continue a simplified look at the drama of the contemporary comic book industry. Shane Bookman is bit of a strange analog for aspects of Eastman in an issue that largely feels pretty mundane. A lot happens in the span between front and back covers of the issue. On this side of the comics page, the events would have taken quite a bit more time to play out and involved quite a bit less pointed drama. The fourth issue continues to make Drawing Blood feel like a cheesy made-for-TV amplification of aspects of the comic book industry, which isn’t a great place to be for 20+ pages.
It’s kind of weird. Avallone’s art feels SO much like Eastman’s early work on so many levels. It gives the overall visual feel of Drawing Blood a feel of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which is not at all where it should be if it’s going to be delivering a realistic earthbound drama. The action at issue’s end feels a bit more congruent with the style of artwork than much of the rest of the issue. Still--the artwork isn’t bad (Eastman’s style of artwork looks good in the hands of Avallone.) The visual feel of Drawing Blood feels warm, welcoming and distinctly indie.
Comic books are difficult to bind to page and panel. The comics medium may not be as obsessed with itself as film or television or theater, but comic books DEFINITELY love looking at themselves between the panels. It’s difficult to do something that feels new. It’s kind of weird to have Eastman doing a story about an Eastman like character with an Eastman-like artist. It’s not bad, though. Just...weird.
