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Guilty
Have you ever regretted running into an “ex”? Ingrid is riding home on her bike from her new job. From the corner of her eye she spots her ex-boyfriend Mark waiting for the bus. She stops to say ‘Hello”. Awkward plans to meet for drinks ensue, thus beginning a series of lies, drugs, alcohol, sexual frustration, and gobs of guilt.
64 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
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July 12, 2010Thanks for this birthday gift, Dave! A beautiful to look at Boston-based graphic novel/story that evokes a particular kind of Boston experience.
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September 27, 2011First off, what's with the cover? I guess the guy's catching his breath, but doesn't it look like he's letting one rip? Isn't that gross?
I'm guessing there's a fairly small market for a book like this. It's a slacklit comic, or maybe a precursor to mumblecore media (it was published in 2005). The art is like portraiture done with crosshatching (I guess, I'm no artist) and is either kind of gross or neat, depending on your point of view. I remember being drawn to it but it is pretty gross.
The story is nothing to write home about. Twentysomethings being quietly desperate, you know, that sort of thing. The dialogue is okay but the inner monologues are horrendous. I think Peter Parker has more realistic inner dialogues than these people.
Karl Stevens and me are probably the only people of a select demographic who think there's anything cool about Boston, or anything interesting to say about the bro-dudes and bipsters who inhabit it. Boston is full of white irish people that watch the Red Sox at bars and yuppies and college students. I don't know why that's appealing to me, but it is, more so than a million stories about New York City, which is too easy to write about and has been done a million times. There's something about the mundaness of Boston that appeals to me. It was nice if a bit embarrassing to see various places I'm familiar with name dropped and/or plugged, however awkwardly:
"What's the Middle East?"
"Oh, it's just some rock club in Central Square. A lot of local bands play there."
This book is less a good or finished story and more a good thesis project for an art school. Well, whatever. I liked how it took place in Boston. Bring on more Boston slack lit!
I'm guessing there's a fairly small market for a book like this. It's a slacklit comic, or maybe a precursor to mumblecore media (it was published in 2005). The art is like portraiture done with crosshatching (I guess, I'm no artist) and is either kind of gross or neat, depending on your point of view. I remember being drawn to it but it is pretty gross.
The story is nothing to write home about. Twentysomethings being quietly desperate, you know, that sort of thing. The dialogue is okay but the inner monologues are horrendous. I think Peter Parker has more realistic inner dialogues than these people.
Karl Stevens and me are probably the only people of a select demographic who think there's anything cool about Boston, or anything interesting to say about the bro-dudes and bipsters who inhabit it. Boston is full of white irish people that watch the Red Sox at bars and yuppies and college students. I don't know why that's appealing to me, but it is, more so than a million stories about New York City, which is too easy to write about and has been done a million times. There's something about the mundaness of Boston that appeals to me. It was nice if a bit embarrassing to see various places I'm familiar with name dropped and/or plugged, however awkwardly:
"What's the Middle East?"
"Oh, it's just some rock club in Central Square. A lot of local bands play there."
This book is less a good or finished story and more a good thesis project for an art school. Well, whatever. I liked how it took place in Boston. Bring on more Boston slack lit!
February 12, 2017
This is Karl Stevens's debut project, a work that won a Xeric Award. I have been familiar with Guilty for some time, now, but I went back to revisit it given my upcoming interview with Stevens. I'm a big fan of his detailed, heavily crosshatched textures, as well as the subject matter of most of his narratives. It's not often that you find comics drawn in this photorealistic style, at least to this degree. The closest I can think of something similar is what you might find in some manga, although there the more naturalistic, detailed art is found mostly in the setting or objects surrounding the characters. Something that you'd fine in Cerebus. But with Stevens's work, the intricate detail is applied to the characters, as well. Also, I have a preference for realistic storytelling -- Karl hates the phrase "slice of life" -- so this work is right up my alley.
May 14, 2010
The characters in this graphic novel reminded me a leeeetle too much of Jennifer's old roommates in Boston.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews