SOUNDTRACK: SHORT STORIES 1989-1996
Writer/Artist: Jessica Abel
Price: $12.95
Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
ISBN: 1-56097-430-3

It often happens that a name will appear to crop up, out of nowhere, into one's notice. It starts with a passing mention, which for some reason will become stuck in the mind. When the name is next mentioned, you remember the first time and think, "Oh yeah... them."

Then you see the name again. And again. Soon, you realise that the fact is, people have always been mentioning this name. You just didn't notice it until now.

Jessica Abel was, for me, such a name.

The name itself isn't particularly striking, true. Perhaps it was the title ARTBABE, Abel's irregular anthology of various strips and shorts, that first planted itself in my memory. Sassy and deliberately provocative, while also maintaining the essential ironic slant that any self-respecting hipster cartoonist must maintain; It's a damn good title.

Not a bad description of Abel's work, either.

SOUNDTRACK is the first of Abel's works that I have read. Subtitled 'Short Stories 1989-1996,' it seemed as good a place as any to start: a collection of short pieces, many of them previously published in either ARTBABE or NEW CITY (A local newspaper in Abel's home of Chicago), and some single pieces of art from covers, t-shirts and other various places.

The book begins with 'Short Stories', reprinted from publications such as ARTBABE and a few other anthology titles. The first story is the eponymous SOUNDTRACK, and it is telling of what we can expect for much of the remainder of the book - short, mildly self-effacing and cartooned with an eye for realism, it is a silent piece that contrasts what one must presume is a Day In The Life Of Jessica Abel with split-panel depictions of various bands and musicians performing. It closes with a note thanking these bands, presumably for the contribution they make to Abel's working day. It is noteworthy that the only non-split panel is one showing the artist playing her own guitar.

Other pieces in this section showcase elements of Abel's style which will come to the fore later in the book: keen observation of mundanity, the oddities of everyday life and an awareness of the gentle futility inherently found in love and friendship. THE JUNKIE is the standout piece here, a two-part (though still very short) piece featuring "Courtney Clare" (a stand-in for the author?) and her junkie-like obsession with a man who, ironically, is first described as having the look of a junkie. The narrative style switches between realistic and poetic, but not in a forced fashion - one suspects Abel is simply equally comfortable with both messy reality and romantic passion.

The next section, 'Journalism', is perhaps the most engaging, though not just for critical reasons. As a comic reader and advocate, Abel's work from NEW CITY almost makes me want to live in Chicago - or at least, the Chicago as presented here. These are not 'daily funnies' in any traditional sense (though some of the NEW CITY content is comedy, and reprinted in other sections of the book).

Rather, these are what the title says: journalism, specifically social journalism. All except one are reports from events which Abel has attended - including a lecture by Camille Paglia, a reading by PROZAC NATION author Elizabeth Wurtzel, an all-ages punk rock evening at the Fireside Bowl in Chicago, and more. (The exception is WAITING FOR DOUGLAS COUPLAND, in which she fails to interview the famous author.)

These are presented mainly as 'talking heads' of people with whom Abel spoke, and the comments they made. Apart from simply being full of human interest, they also serve as a validation of the comic form and the sort of advantages it provides when used well. Though there is little in these journalistic pieces which could not have been achieved with text and accompanying photographs, the use of the comic form instead provides them with an immediacy to the events being reported, and the vitality of graphic illustration which often serves better than photography to convey a mood. It also allows Abel - as when she compares Godzilla's increasing height throughout the character's movie history during a report on a 'Godzilla Con' - to employ visual exposition which would be impossible in pure text (and highly expensive for television).

Though slight, this section is also significant for the legitimacy of form it promotes. It is difficult, certainly for me, to conceive of a newspaper - even a localised one - which would regularly run one or two pages of journalism in comic form. One must assume either that Chicago has some of the hippest readers on Earth, or that only four people actually read NEW CITY...

There follows an untitled chapter, presumably because its content is also untitled. Consisting in the main of a surreal 'war romance' story, drawn in a pastiche of 50s comics style, this section unfortunately suffers from too much, too fast. While these stories may have been well-received breaks within the pages of ARTBABE itself, here they are both unclear and unengaging.

They also ironically highlight Abel's strength as an illustrator, because they are the least attractive parts of this collection. The style of art changes and evolves throughout SOUNDTRACK, while maintaining a sense of continuity - except in these stories. And while an artist is always to be applauded for experimenting with style, here the experiment merely proves that Abel is best when not forcing a style upon herself, instead allowing her own style to change naturally.

'Funny Pages', the next section, is just that - comedy strips, though not in any conventional sense. The humour is in bathos and ranting, as exemplified by works such as the friend-of-a-friend TWO DEGREES OF SEPARATION FROM STEVE ALBINI, or the anti-television diatribe FAMILY CLASSICS (again starring Courtney Clare, this time as a gate-crashing pirate). In this latter strip Abel's brush is bold and angular, the style full of fourth wall-breaking devices, and the results bring to mind some of Philip Bond's WIRED WORLD comics from early issues of DEADLINE magazine.

The penultimate chapter, 'Covers', is just that. A collection of covers for ARTBABE and other magazines or comics, this showcases Abel's design and compositional skills well - one of the ARTBABE covers is, in fact, the original version of this collection's cover. The covers to BREAKDOWN #2 and ARTBABE #4 are particularly striking. These make the least satisfying of these pieces, an interior back cover from GIRL'S COMICS #2, somewhat puzzling: lacking the thoughtful design of her other pieces, it is also over-rendered (perhaps to compensate), and as a result is unfocussed and bland. A reminder that good design is paramount, in any case.

The final chapter, 'The Four Seasons', contains four of the longest works in this collection. Curiously, none of them are credited as having originally appeared anywhere else, which indicates that they are new to this book. If such is the case, they are almost worth the price alone.

HEART OF A TURTLE is an endearing road-trip snippet, a story of human quirks and self-inflicted emotional isolation; THE ANT & THE GRASSHOPPER serves up a basic 'people are shits' philosophy, though told with a fine eye for human detail; JACK LONDON is the final piece starring Courtney Clare, this time portrayed as a very real person (again, one assumes she serves here as a stand-in for the author) suffering form a romantic snowblindness which renders her useless at work; and finally VIVA!, an emotionally overwrought slice of life taking place entirely in a bar, with a suitably bittersweet ending.

It may seem odd within a review to have referenced Abel herself so much, but one is left with the feeling - indeed, it emerges early in the reading - that this book is a small reflection of her working life throughout the period these works were produced. Works such as these, even when not autobiographical, are often impossible to separate from the artist, and a reading of SOUNDTRACK certainly supports that.

Overall, Abel's work here shows evolution, experimentation and a willingness to embrace change. And while her subject matter is often banal, the power of the resulting stories is generally anything but.

Antony Johnston is the author of JULIUS, SPOOKED and THE LONG HAUL. His new ongoing series WASTELAND begins in July 2006.

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