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A review by levitybooks
I'm Not Here by GG
4.0
I predict that GG and Nick Drnaso will soon be critically acclaimed indie comic artists.
*Note: I wrote this review and prediction in February 2018; in July 2018, Nick Drnaso was the first comic artist ever to be nominated for the Man Booker 2018 Longlist*
Please read a free excerpt provided by GG here:
https://ohgigue.com/
*Spoiler Free*
This is the first comic I ever bought as an adult (I read The Beano a decade ago). I read many of GG's consistently good short stories on the website above, so I knew this would be good.
GG writes the most introverted comics, ever. They center on the nostalgia, regret and torschlusspanik evoked when one begins living alone as a young adult.
It plays like an old avant-garde film as events are framed in a second-by-second manner with black pages between chapters, surreal and unexplained plot elements despite an ominous silence.
Criticism
One thing I hope GG develops is a better narrative climax, as they often seem contrived in a way that breaks the sense of realism the rest of the story had spent so long creating, and while that could be effective, I think GG should double down or pass, as it isn't long or extreme enough to induce dread about one's general sense of reality or an epiphany about the psychological state of the protagonist. I think the problem is, that GG does not vary the fast pacing at any point in any of her works, and while that may be a style preference, it makes for an anhedonic plodding reading style that is fine up until the point where a climax or end arrive. You sort of end up accidentally skim reading something that deserves more attention by both the reader and author, for example because it is tragic or horrifying. As in, I read the late cathartic bathroom scene like I read the early kitchen scene where the protagonist is cutting an avocado, as both had as much facial expression, number of frames, frame zoom, frame colour... What I'm trying to suggest is that I believe minimalism is beautiful until it is strict enough to restrict style changes that are necessary to allow a reader to subconsciously (or even consciously) differentiate parts in the general plot arc, which are necessary insofar as they provide the rationale for choosing and ordering of the story scenes. What is connected here, is anything connected? If not, why not? Put another way: when a reader can't easily tell what part of the story is important with reference either to the author, protagonist or reader, time and space within the narrative becomes less emotionally evocative or memorable. I think an author needs no reason for keeping a traditional narrative structure (other than it's more convenient to our conditioning on Campbell's monomyth), but I think they might explicitly need to show why they vary it in other cases for it to be more effective than a conventional structure. You need a reason to rebel against the easier path for your audience! I'm being overly judgemental here but it's only because I can see GG's future works being monumental to the indie comics genre.
*Note: I wrote this review and prediction in February 2018; in July 2018, Nick Drnaso was the first comic artist ever to be nominated for the Man Booker 2018 Longlist*
Please read a free excerpt provided by GG here:
https://ohgigue.com/
*Spoiler Free*
This is the first comic I ever bought as an adult (I read The Beano a decade ago). I read many of GG's consistently good short stories on the website above, so I knew this would be good.
GG writes the most introverted comics, ever. They center on the nostalgia, regret and torschlusspanik evoked when one begins living alone as a young adult.
It plays like an old avant-garde film as events are framed in a second-by-second manner with black pages between chapters, surreal and unexplained plot elements despite an ominous silence.
Criticism
One thing I hope GG develops is a better narrative climax, as they often seem contrived in a way that breaks the sense of realism the rest of the story had spent so long creating, and while that could be effective, I think GG should double down or pass, as it isn't long or extreme enough to induce dread about one's general sense of reality or an epiphany about the psychological state of the protagonist. I think the problem is, that GG does not vary the fast pacing at any point in any of her works, and while that may be a style preference, it makes for an anhedonic plodding reading style that is fine up until the point where a climax or end arrive. You sort of end up accidentally skim reading something that deserves more attention by both the reader and author, for example because it is tragic or horrifying. As in, I read the late cathartic bathroom scene like I read the early kitchen scene where the protagonist is cutting an avocado, as both had as much facial expression, number of frames, frame zoom, frame colour... What I'm trying to suggest is that I believe minimalism is beautiful until it is strict enough to restrict style changes that are necessary to allow a reader to subconsciously (or even consciously) differentiate parts in the general plot arc, which are necessary insofar as they provide the rationale for choosing and ordering of the story scenes. What is connected here, is anything connected? If not, why not? Put another way: when a reader can't easily tell what part of the story is important with reference either to the author, protagonist or reader, time and space within the narrative becomes less emotionally evocative or memorable. I think an author needs no reason for keeping a traditional narrative structure (other than it's more convenient to our conditioning on Campbell's monomyth), but I think they might explicitly need to show why they vary it in other cases for it to be more effective than a conventional structure. You need a reason to rebel against the easier path for your audience! I'm being overly judgemental here but it's only because I can see GG's future works being monumental to the indie comics genre.