House of Java: Vol. 1

by Mark Murphy

ComicsLit is proud to launch another talented newcomer in a collection of short slice-of-life stories quietly but strongly etching various facets of our lives, making us think about ourselves and how we act with others. The House of Java is a coffee house where little flashes on all sorts of people that happen in for a cup are sprinkled among other stories such as "Welcome to Seattle" where a girl leaves her home town for the first time to meet her boyfriend. But he stands her up and she is left to fend for herself in a strange town. As it turns out, it's a liberating experience and once she does stumble on to him, he is amazed at her transformation, so similar to his own. Reminiscent of the insightful work of Adrian Tomine.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

80 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1998

About the author

Mark Edward Murphy, graphic designer for childrens' entertainment company HIT Entertainment; 1st published work was a comic book on Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood.

Reviews

[Robert]

Not quite as tight as Tiki Joe, but it is a younger work so allowances are made.
Sorry to see nothing else is available by him.

[Iines Sudenkäpäläpentu]

I only read books once, so this slice of Life was perfect for me.

[Josh Mcdonald]

A slim collection of short, slice-of-life comics -- not stories so much as little vignettes, mostly centered on a Seattle coffee shop and the people who frequent it. Interspersed within these vignettes are longer stories, some of which work better than others. The first of these long-form stories, "Rest Stop," seems decidedly out of place among the low-key everyday kinds of character-driven narratives that make up the rest of the book. "Rest Stop" feels as though it wanted to be a kind of psychological thriller but lost interest somewhere along the way. The rest of the stories, though, are enjoyable. I also like the loose, sparsely elegant drawing style, which accents the feel of quick sketches grabbed at the local coffee shop.

[Don]

When these stories were first coming out in the 1990s, I was surprised and impressed by the slice-of-life subject matter. Re-reading them today, though, I'm underwhelmed. The art is pretty good, if unrefined, but the stories are considerably more clunky than I remembered; the dialogue is largely flat, and the developments make economical use of the space allotted, yet never really resonate. It's pleasant enough, but one mostly gets the sense of an artist learning to be a writer, with both fumblings and occasional moments of success.

[Printable Tire]

"Slices-of-life" is an accurate description of the contents of this book, as none of these "stories" have the cachet to accurately be called "stories." After finishing every one I would think, "Oh. That's it?" or "Who cares?" There is the nostalgic attraction of that "Post-Clerks twenty-something 90's white guy slacker talking about stuff" thing, but I wouldn't recommend this book to anybody. Read Christmas morning in the only coffee shop open in town, and left there.

[David Schwan]

A set of stories, some set in a coffee house. The author presents us with simple stories about the interactions between people, some rude, some mundane.

[Nicole West Moore]

awesome storyteller. All I have to say to the guy ranting about people putting milk and sugar in black coffee..."Don't hate"

[Diana Welsch]

Eh. This was OK, but it didn't blow me away.