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140th out of 1,500 books
—
3,022 voters
Stuck Rubber Baby
Art and story combine powerfully in this lyrical tale of a young man caught in the maelstrom of the civil rights movement and the systematic homophobia of small-town America of the 1960s.
Paperback, 216 pages
Published
March 1st 2000
by DC Comics
(first published 1995)
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Howard Cruse's graphic novel about one man's experiences during the 1960's civil rights movement is brimming with details. BUT...that's not ALWAYS a good thing...
Toland Polk tells of his involvement in the struggles for equality during those troubled times in American history. He also relates the l-o-n-g, s-l-o-w discovery of his true sexual identity. I don't know if EVERY single conversation he EVER held with EVERYBODY is depicted, but it sure seems that way. There are too many characters and t...more
Toland Polk tells of his involvement in the struggles for equality during those troubled times in American history. He also relates the l-o-n-g, s-l-o-w discovery of his true sexual identity. I don't know if EVERY single conversation he EVER held with EVERYBODY is depicted, but it sure seems that way. There are too many characters and t...more
I had read great things about Stuck Rubber Baby and obviously I wasn't disappointed. The story and characters are nuanced and I enjoyed the author's complex weaving of social injustices and inequities. White privilege and heteronormativity are closely examined as the main character comes to terms with his sexual identity and his complacently in the violences committed against Blacks in the south. Alison Bechdel's intriguing introduction explains the significance of the individual in the role of...more
This is one that sat on my shelves for many years. I knew it was acclaimed, but Cruse's Wendel had never appealed to me and even now as I write a 5-star review for Stuck Rubber Baby, I can't say that his art in this book is particularly appealing to me, either. There's so much cross-hatching that even quiet panels often look too dark and unnecessarily busy (a panel showing two men in a shower made me wonder what sort of skin condition - or fur - was being shown), and everyone looks like a kind o...more
Baby weaves the story of Toland's accepting himself as a homosexual while at same time learning to accept black people as people who should have full equal rights. All of this is set in the south in the early 60's. An interesting juxtaposition because both homosexuality and race were discriminated against. Toland cannot come to grips with his emerging homosexual preferences. He works extremely hard to appear and behave straight. Through Sammy, Toland becomes acquainted with Clayfield's "seedy un...more
I tend to be wary of memoirs about the White Middle Class American Male Experience (gay or otherwise), especially those set against the backdrop of a powerful political moment (in this case, the Civil Rights Movement). The magnitude of these events (and the people who made them happen) is diminished, to say the least, with the emphasis instead placed on how All This Has Changed Our Precious Boy. Now, while Stuck Rubber Baby isn't without its problems, I appreciate that Howard Cruse makes his whi...more
Howard Cruse's carefully plotted, beautifully drawn novel is almost guaranteed to enthrall any reader. I immersed myself in this book, and almost made the mistake of reading it too fast. It's worth careful attention. Toland--a gay kid in the 60s, and in the South to boot--is a character that can be hard to love, but his story is a lens through which we can view a time full of upheaval.
[There's spoilers after this point, FYI.]
The book is also uncomfortable to read, for a lot of reasons. It's actu...more
[There's spoilers after this point, FYI.]
The book is also uncomfortable to read, for a lot of reasons. It's actu...more
2 likes · like · see review
Oct 16, 2010
Nathan Kibler
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
graphic-novels
I've always liked Howard Cruse's work, ever since I first encountered it when I came out. His struggles to express his own truth touches on such universal truths that I can't help feeling I know him intimately, although I mostly know him through his comics. Someday I hope to meet him in person.
"Stuck Rubber Baby" (SRB) is a tour de force, mixing tales of the human rights struggles of the sixties with the Jazz music scene of the south, this is an amazing work of fiction. I almost would give it fi...more
"Stuck Rubber Baby" (SRB) is a tour de force, mixing tales of the human rights struggles of the sixties with the Jazz music scene of the south, this is an amazing work of fiction. I almost would give it fi...more
Summary: Howard Cruse has created a memorable story about a young man coming to terms with his homosexuality amid the upheaval of the early 1960s civil rights movement.
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The March on Washington in 1963 at which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his epochal "I Have a Dream" speech looms large over the history of the United States civil rights movement of the 1950s and '60s.
But in this captivating graphic novel about life in that era, the March is shown in only two of 20 panels on two of...more
_____
The March on Washington in 1963 at which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his epochal "I Have a Dream" speech looms large over the history of the United States civil rights movement of the 1950s and '60s.
But in this captivating graphic novel about life in that era, the March is shown in only two of 20 panels on two of...more
This book is amazing. It was originally published in 1995. I read the 2010 hardback with the introduction by Alison Bechdel.
I had overlooked the introduction, and started reading a bit absentmindedly on the bus. A short way in, I stopped, realizing I needed to slow down and drink in this art. Turning back to the front, I found her introduction, and confirmed that I had a treasure to read.
The art is remarkable. It's crisp black and white with apparently infinite crosshatching and detail. He chang...more
I had overlooked the introduction, and started reading a bit absentmindedly on the bus. A short way in, I stopped, realizing I needed to slow down and drink in this art. Turning back to the front, I found her introduction, and confirmed that I had a treasure to read.
The art is remarkable. It's crisp black and white with apparently infinite crosshatching and detail. He chang...more
Absolutely excellent. Semi-autobiographical in the same vein as The Bell Jar, Cruse illustrates his experiences growing up as a gay white man in the segregated South. It is a story which is of a life hopelessly political despite itself. The ability to just BE is a political act, and as a result, everything else is striated along political lines. The desperate urge of the main character to live a "normal life" in such abnormal times as the 60s is so identifiable, a young man yearning for love, fo...more
Stuck Rubber Baby is that perfect blend of autobiography and history. To have it all come packaged as a graphic novel is even better. This has joined the pantheon with the likes of Maus and Fun Home as superlative graphic novel work.
The story pulls no punches. This is a graphic novel for mature audiences, as it deals with truly dark aspects of humanity, including discrimination, violence, and murder. This contrasts with the naivete of our narrator/protagonist, who is truly just trying to figure...more
The story pulls no punches. This is a graphic novel for mature audiences, as it deals with truly dark aspects of humanity, including discrimination, violence, and murder. This contrasts with the naivete of our narrator/protagonist, who is truly just trying to figure...more
I loved this. I read the compilation of Cruse's Wendel comic strips, which was also wonderful, but this was simply amazing. At first I was a little worried that the characters seemed like stock, generic Civil Rights-era Southern figures, but as the story progresses Cruse fleshes them out and makes them unique. The story is nuanced and multi-layered, dealing with the protagonist's struggles with sexuality and the broader struggles around black civil rights, as well as the complicated relationship...more
i kept hearing about this book as one of the inspirations for Alison Bechdel to write Fun Home, so i had to get me a copy. not easy. basically out of print.
the illustrations don't instantly appeal to me. although you become used to them as time progresses. the story reminds me of Memoir of a Race Traitor by Mab Segrest, despite the difference in time, place, and actual events. the plot weaves between the main character's long process of coming out, his (and his friends') involvement in the Civi...more
the illustrations don't instantly appeal to me. although you become used to them as time progresses. the story reminds me of Memoir of a Race Traitor by Mab Segrest, despite the difference in time, place, and actual events. the plot weaves between the main character's long process of coming out, his (and his friends') involvement in the Civi...more
I'm re-reading this since I'm teaching it. It's fun to teach a graphic novel since the students are so attuned to images. This book is very rich with a lot of subplots. It takes place during the Civil Rights Movement in the South and has a mix of characters, black and white, straight and gay. It explores the overlaps between race and sexuality.
Historical fiction, dealing with homosexuality and racism during the Civil Rights Movement in the deep South. Complex, gay main character (I wish there were more of those). Overall excellent characterization, compelling plotting. Sensitive and nuanced handling of race and sexuality. Art style wasn't my favorite, I sometimes had a hard time interpreting people's facial expressions, but the panel layout and shot framing was really solid.
In contrast, with e.g. Shiner's Black&White, I didn't fe...more
In contrast, with e.g. Shiner's Black&White, I didn't fe...more
I had a lot of trouble getting through this book. I think the author/illustrator tried to take on too many issues at once. Also, I had difficulties telling some of the characters apart. It could be because this comic was done in black and white instead of color, but many of the characters were defined by slight curls to their hair that could be overlooked. As for the issues, I think it is admirable to bring racism, homophobia and other issues to an accessible medium like comic books, but taking...more
I guess this is the canonical equivalent to Maus in the realm of queer comix, but I'm surprisingly okay with that. I have a personal bias towards Cruse's art, as I'm never sexually turned on by it and generally that is what I want a gay comic to do (turn me on), but in this instance my desire for lust is surpassed by a pretty strong, engaging narrative.
Although I can't lie and say that these sort of coming out stories (especially when places within the equally frustrating context of race-riots)...more
Although I can't lie and say that these sort of coming out stories (especially when places within the equally frustrating context of race-riots)...more
This book has everything! It takes place mostly in the 60s during the Civil Rights movement, and the main character/narrator is also realizing he's gay, so it's got all the glorious ambiguity and unanswerable doubts of those two themes, race and sexuality. It's basically a meditation on what it means to embrace humanity in all of its forms. The end's a little abrupt and unclear, and the drawings need more breathing room, but it's absolutely engaging and rewarding. For someone new to the form, I...more
Calling this book fantastic doesn't go far enough. It may be one of my favorite graphic novels of all time and I was delighted to re-read it in this lovely new edition with an intro by Allison Bechdel. This story is so moving, so tightly wound, so true and so fascinating to me. The characters really pop and you believe that they are real people whose voices you can hear speaking and thinking as they move through what we often think of as 'history'. And the themes of self-love and acceptance, fig...more
I read this book after reading about how influential Howard Cruse was to Alison Bechdel's career. It was a good book, and a gorgeous combination of words and images that told the story in a very three dimensional way. The characters were well drawn, in all senses of the word, and it was very evocative of the South during the Civil Rights Movement.
It was a brutal and often moving story, but I found myself wanting a more cohesive ending. Life isn't always like that, of course, but this is supposed...more
It was a brutal and often moving story, but I found myself wanting a more cohesive ending. Life isn't always like that, of course, but this is supposed...more
I got this book yesterday and couldn't put it down until I finished it today. The story is compelling. How he drew various elements and then reexamined those elements again was well done. The entire composition of this book is so completely well thought out that you know he spent months fiddling with the layout alone. And his lines. I love to draw tight, and Cruses lines might look natural but they are so tight, most craft filled, that the quantity of them, so rich, gives this already rich story...more
Look, I can't do justice to this book in a brief write-up; all I can do is recommend that you read it. It's a moving story, the art is detailed and historically accurate, and it's obvious how much work Howard Cruse put into it. A lot of times I don't take long enough to read through graphic novels, but I made sure to read this over several days; I didn't want to be done with it, and I wanted to take time to really look at the art and reflect on the words. Read Alison Bechdel's introduction/love...more
1 like · like · see review
Over Thanksgiving, my family asked me what I was reading. At the time, I was reading a smattering of things, but I told them I was most excited about a graphic novel entitled Stuck Rubber Baby. Upon hearing "graphic novel" they immediately responded with, "Oh, you're just reading comic books? No serious books right now?" I hate this stigma, especially since Stuck Rubber Baby is so poignant and powerful, and its illustrations only work to enhance the impact of an already moving story about race a...more
Apr 24, 2011
Andrew Shuping
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
graphic-novel
This is one of those books that you want to be able to describe the power and emotion that you felt when you read it, because you want everyone to appreciate those qualities. But when you sit down to write the review its so hard to find the right words to describe it. That's the trouble I'm having right now, but I'm going to do my best.
This book is set in the 1950's and 1960's in the deep south. Although the story is told through other characters it appears to be autobiographical. In this time t...more
This book is set in the 1950's and 1960's in the deep south. Although the story is told through other characters it appears to be autobiographical. In this time t...more
Though Alison Bechdel's stunning Fun Home is the clear kissing cousin to this book (both are tragic gay coming-of-age comics rooted in their sense of history), I actually kept thinking about this book in relation to Asterios Polyp. Both Baby and Polyp are comics about self-involved, unlikable characters wandering aimlessly through life while recalling their troubled pasts. But where Asterios Polyp was flashy, brainy, mannered, and detached (all good things, mind you), Stuck Rubber Baby is all he...more
a terrific and moving account of a young gay man growing up in the south during the civil rights movement. it felt timely to be reading this right now--tony kushner makes the point powerfully in the intro, so i'm going to quote a long passage:
It articulates a crying need for solidarity, it performs the crucial function of remembering, for the queer community, how essential to the birth of our politics of liberation the civil rights movement was. The point, it seems to me, is not that one movemen...more
A fantastic graphic novel, well worth the re-read. The constant flow of events made me doubt it was even partly fictional. There are so many tiny moments and details packed into every corner that make it feel a little too disjointed to be made-up. In the acknowledgements, Cruse mentions it was heavily based on his own experiences growing up in Birmingham and the anecdotes of his peers, but even so, he did an amazing job knitting them into the kind of semi-cohesive but mostly one-damn-thing-after...more
Simply one of the best books I have read in a long time -- an example of how amazing graphic novels CAN be when they try. This is the story of Toland, a young white man coming of age in the deep South at the dawning of the civil rights movement -- and trying to come to terms with his homosexuality. All of the characters are vivid, complex and fully realized -- even the minor characters. I especially enjoyed Cruse's portrayal of Ginger -- Toland's girlfriend who is a folk singer and headstrong, s...more
This book is incredibly, searingly honest. The interactions between the characters force the reader into deep self examinations, both of yourself and of the world around you. The story is complex and richly layered and the illustrations are drawn with a meticulous love and careful craft. Its most powerful emotional moments will strike you in the pit of your gut. It's a very important work: for history, for contemporary politics, for self discovery, and for the genre of graphic novels. I am teach...more
Wow, this was a really poignant story about prejudices, politics, and acceptance. I loved how the fictional story paralleled the experiences of the author and others, as well as many key moments in the civil rights movement of the Kennedy era. Both shocking and familiar, heartwarming and bleak, this graphic novel surprised me with how engrossing it was. If you want to see what the medium of the graphic novel can do outside of the capes and cowls genre - this is a good place to start and be truly...more
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Mar 30, 2012 10:08pm
Mar 31, 2012 04:14am