Thursday, September 17, 2009

Night Business Reviewed by Sean Collins


Sean Collins, prominent comic critic and blogger, wrote and amazing review of the first two issues of Night Biz over at his blog. Definitely the best review so far (right up there with Frank Santoro's review). But nothing competes with Tim Hodler's too-well-executed-to-be-the-work-of-an-idiot-savant comment. Obviously, Collins gets it. You know what I mean? Gets it. Here's a piece of the review:

Benjamin Marra's art is studiously amateurish and ugly in a totally consistent fashion--precisely the way that the art of someone whose natural talent is totally outgunned by his boundless enthusiasm and obsession bordering on dedication would be. These blocky, blockheaded, stiff figures--everyone, male and female, looks like their bodies are 85% gristle--seem like the thought-through product of a worldview, like they're the output of someone who's drawn page after page after meaty, pulpy page of these people without ever thinking twice about what anyone will think of it (beyond, perhaps, "they'll fuckin' love it!"). The layouts are simple, all business, as if to say "enough of all the frou-frou, let's just see what happens next." Every outfit is peeled from some hair-metal or porno fantasy world where men are either leather and denim street toughs or sharp-dressed sharks in suits, and where women routinely walk around in lingerie and heels. The City (capitalized like a motherfucker) consists almost solely of strip clubs, alleys, morgues, and the preposterous offices of an exotic-dancer management empire; everything is lit by streetlights or neon.

Thanks for the review, Sean.
(Incidentally, Sean will be moderating a panel I'll be on at SPX this year. See the previous post for detes).

2 comments:

Sean T. Collins said...

Thanks for the good comics, Ben! And I'll see you next weekend...

Unknown said...

Anytime, Sean. Thanks again for the review. I laughed. Hard. Looking forward to SPX.