Shannon Smith

Tom Spurgeon, whom I have several wheel barrows full of respect for, recently said "Maggots is a work that deserves to be discussed at every opportunity". I agree. Few books have set my mind thinking as much as it has. Brian Chippendale's book Maggots received a lot of critical praise at the end of last year so I bought it. I was in the mood to try something different and I bought it. I was disappointed by the size of the book versus the cost but I don't regret buying it. It is such an interesting thing that I pick it up and look through it almost every time I walk by the bookcase it is in. I love the look and the size of the thing. The unique page layout is like reading a puzzle. It's just a fun little thing to have and hold in your hand. I'm not going to get into a serious review of it but I'll say I like it, I'm glad I own it but it is not a comic and it is not a graphic novel. I think that at best it is a work of sequential art and that is interesting enough as long as the art is exciting and Chippendale's art is exciting on more pages than not. At worst, its' just a sketchbook drawn on a little Japanese book. That's not that bad either because, like I said, Chippendale's art is exciting. Either way, I don't think it's a graphic novel. Graphic? Yes, obviously. Novel? Not so much. A novel is a narrative having an overall pattern or plot. I guess you could argue that Maggots has a pattern. Little dudes running, climbing, fighting and having sex over and over is kind of a pattern and I guess you could call it a narrative but if there is a plot, I can't find it. And I tried, I really really tried. I read and re-read every panel and could not find a plot. Recurring themes? Check. Recurring characters? Check. Plot? Not so much. And that's okay. Like I said, this thing is a work of art and like all good art should be open to each viewer's/reader's interpretation. People sometimes compare comics to movies because they are both sequential visual mediums. For me, reading Maggots is more like listening to a song than it is watching a movie. Understanding a song is not critical to enjoying it but it's pretty important in a movie. I don't understand Maggots but I still enjoy it. I like it and I expect to see it's influence on some comics in the future.

Okay so what do glamourpuss and Maggots have to do with each other? Well they have both generated a lot of reviews and discussion but I find it really interesting how glamourpus has been derided for not really being a comic book while Maggots has been celebrated for not begin a graphic novel. Why is this? I think we forgive and apologize away any shortcomings of Maggots because it is told that Chippendale never intended for Maggots to be published. We look at it as a found art object and celebrate the freedom and energy it seems to hold. With glamourpuss on the other hand, it is Dave Sim's obvious intention both from his promotion and from his own statements in the book itself that he wants glamourpuss to be an ongoing series with a audience to buy it. Both books are self indulgent but Maggots does not demand or even ask anything of the audience. It just kind of exists and you like it or you don't. With glamourpuss, Sim asks the audience (and the retailer) to go on this crazy trip on his comic book shaped essay/sketchbook and he also seems to demand that the audience (and the retailer) acknowledge and respect his "evil genius" and bare with him even though his comic book shaped vehicle is not what said audience (and retailer) are accustomed to buying (and retailing). You know, comic books.

I can't get into either creator's head but from looking at these two works it is my own personal felling that Brian Chippendale sat down with that little Japanese catalog and set about filling it's pages with drawings without any agenda other than to have some fun and maybe challenge himself. This, I can appreciate and even envy on some levels and understand how some people can go so far as to praise and celebrate the thing. I understand this. Sim also sat down to have some fun and challenge himself but his ego took control of the thing and he managed to trick himself into thinking he could make a comic book series out of it. For this, I am in awe and fear of the man. This, I do not understand.


None of this will make it easier to sleep tonight.


Your best pal ever,
Shannon Smith