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Underground > Comic Books >

Stray Bullets 26

The Natural Way

12:25 / 03.10.02

Just had to start a topic in celebration of this book. I love it (and sorry Flux, it occurs to me I promised to send you over a few trades. I forgot. Will get on it - PM me yr details again).

Speaking of Flux, I just wanted to underline how much SB is NOT a straightforward crime book. Sure, it has criminals in it, but really it has nothing in common with most of the funguff that comprises that prticular genre...well, nothing that immediately springs to mind anyway. It's a soap; its about living in a random, accidental world where it's up to the individual to concoct meaning...it's a jigsaw puzzle...and most of the pieces are missing. Lapham digs 'em up from under the sofa and we make do....drip fed....month after month.

And what do we get 6 months after Ginny's abduction? Amy-muthafuckin'-Racecar. Oh yes. Fantastic. The whole exercise of attempting to peer through the cracks in Ginny's idealised adult self (and the narratives she generates) in order to catch a glimpse of what is REALLY GOING ON is brilliant: where does it fall apart? Who peoples it?

Her little pal as Orson (does she feel responsible for what happened to Orson?)....the smiling man.....the curtains....LIVE MUSIC! And that video...urrrgh.

The cracks, the cracks... Like Mulholland Drive, when REALITY starts to seep through Ginny curls up in her self imposed, internal prison and shakes. Just like her little friend. Maybe "he" was "her" all along....she just didn't want to see...

26 was so complicated: by the end we're left with conflicting feelings about the "outcome". On the one hand, as the title says, "YOU CAN'T KEEP A WILD STRAWBERRY DOWN!" (or something like that), and indeed you can't. Fuck those brainwashing fuckers: just smash their noses down their collective throats, re-hijack the fucking story and fuck off on more adventures.... Janey Sunshine? Pfah! Who's she?!? On the other hand.....denial, thick, fast and sexy has set in: Ginny has retreated further inside her armour and reality's best attempts at crashing through have failed.

Nasty stuff.

Ginny has to interface w/ Amy IRL.

I fucking love this comic. It's scary, funny, tight, warm and very, very human. And if you don't read it yr a pooman.

The Natural Way

12:30 / 03.10.02

Fuck MODOK - he was fun when he invaded the Ultimates thread, but all this "properly channeled", sensible adulation/celebration just isn't cutting it for me.

He's lost the element of surprise.

Let's talk Stray Bullets.

12:36 / 03.10.02

Huh?

Anyway, just got it today. I've only got about the last five issues, but I love it, even if I don't know what's going on most of the time. I take it there are a number of trades available, going off your first post?

The Natural Way

12:43 / 03.10.02

Oh, I think you can get pretty much the whole thing in trade form.

Welcome to the land of SB, Sax. Fighting GOOD!

13:41 / 03.10.02

Stray Bullets is indeed one of the finest comics in production. Great characterisation that drives the plots (as opposed to the other way around), healthy doses of both cynicism and compassion, no simple 'heroes' or 'monsters' (not even Monster) - it focuses on the bystanders, those caght up in the cross-fire - and Lapham takes the brave step of only releasing issues when he has each one up to the necessary high standard - a good move since in five years no-one will give a fuck whether it came out on the 28th of each month or not, quality will be the only true measure. And that it has in spades.

The Natural Way

13:49 / 03.10.02

Oh yes.

Apart from the overall spacky tone of his letter, I kinda agree w/ the fan who wrote into SB to express his disappointment that Monster isn't gay.
Monster stinks of repression. But, if it's Beth related, so be it.....

Yes, that's right: a healthy balance of cynicism and compassion. Yes indeedy. SB doesn't quite have the complexity of Clowes, but this is hard, fast soapyactiondrama w/ a good dose of gunspray, and it probably shouldn't.

14:00 / 03.10.02

... I would hope it goes without saying that repression is not an exclisively homosexual trait.

I hate to think that a failure to adhere to the lazy 'comic book' short hands employed by other writers/publishers is in some was a hallmark of a great comic rather than an entry level requirement for the post-literate

The Natural Way

14:20 / 03.10.02

And I would hope that it goes w/out saying that I'm not stupid enough to base my assumption solely on Monster's repression. But that's the only solid "evidence"....the rest is slightly more ineffable....just a "vibe" I get.

yawn - thing's buddy

08:09 / 04.10.02

Runce had been been praising this title so highly I thought I’d give it a look. I bought book 2 of the softcover trades – it was good. But I was not fond of the format – too many starchy white pages with not enough tonal variation throughout the art for me to want to dwell on this book for too long. But I do like the art – in fact I love it. Deep down I’m a monthly comic junkie – which is why I wet myself on see SB no. 26 in the shops yesterday – along with X-statix it had the poppiest, most alluring cover in the shop. The format suited me – 20 odd pages of starch white blah …..

And then the story structure grabbed me. Then I realised other things you can do with the comic’s page and it’s variables. Then I realised the mastery of Lapham’s atmospherics. His graphic technique. His dialogue. His suspense. His weirdness. His sickness. His pairing of word with image. His total control of cartoonery.

This tale is creepy. I’m not sure what the back story is but I’ll work it out. I will hunt down every single back issue. No trades for me. This works best for me in slices.

(also, It’s fairly amazing that comic book artists/writers are compelled to play with sci-fi/hero narratives even when they stray beyond its usual confines – j.Corrigan/stray bullets/loads of other stuff – not a criticism cos when done well, its fascinating. In this particular issue, I thought it was almost as if Lapham himself was the individual wavering between reality and ‘comic books’ - As Stray Bullets progresses he garners more attention for it’s respectablility: like his character, he finds safety in the genreverse, resting there as his contemplates the ‘respectable’ art he’s begun to create)

As (kinda) noted, ‘there’s a lot of Mullholland Drive in there without doubt and I’ll bet he reads Morrison too. His mention of Holographic story structures in the letter’s page gave him away.

SO: Stray Bullets 26 is definitely one of the best single issue comics I have ever read.

It stays with you.

Talking of letters: did anyone catch the disturbing tone in the one who takes an interest how child molesters speak to their captives? And why didn’t Lapham pick him up for it?

Brrrr…

The Natural Way

08:16 / 04.10.02

Yes...really, yawn, get the trades. Lapham is excellent. I think he does the best CREEPY! in comics.

jUne, a sunshiny month

08:23 / 04.10.02

as usual : SB rules. damn, i missed a few issues....