Walkie Talkie #3
Written, drawn and published by Nate Powell
border=1 align=right> What is this strange and beautiful world so full of mysteries? It's the third issue of a small-press series called Walkie Talkie, and it is as gorgeous as it is impenetrable.
Not impenetrable in the sense of The Monarchy or the U.S. Tax Code, but more like a David Lynch movie, where your inability to instantly discern every aspect of the story just adds to its appeal. The sense that this is a many-layered construction waiting to be peeled open and examined, and possibly adored. Having not yet seen part two of this story, already I have the sense that this could be a very important graphic novel being serialized here.
This is the third issue of Walkie Talkie, but it's the first time I've ever seen this comic; it features the debut of a two-part tale titled "Satellite Worlds," a complex and at times dream-like narrative centering on a group of young people and how their lives intersect and collide at a party and during a ride in a car.
Walkie Talkie is the creation of 23-year old Nate Powell, whose previous efforts included titles like The Playground Messiah, Conditions, Frankenbones, and Wonderful Broken Thing, but this is his first big push into conventional comics shop distribution. Powell told me his previous comics were "mostly circulated through the activist/punk rock circuit, sold at shows and through record and zine distributors." It's clear he's been working at his craft for a while, because this offset-printed comic is well-crafted both from the creative and production angles.
There is a wistful quality to the script, as if these events are being recounted from a long distance away in space and time, with regret and sadness. The artwork is startlingly well-done, with strong influences of Dave Sim, Alex Robinson and Eddie Campbell throughout. Graphically, the work is strong and bold, with large areas of black defining shapes and spaces, and darkness and emptiness. The final image, a full-page splash full of portents for the rest of the story soon to come, is haunting.
This is a dense tale interweaving multiple characters in a way that is enchanting and left me wanting to know much, much more. It's visually one of the most impressive comics I've ever seen from a creator previously unknown to me. I strongly urge you to write Powell at the above e-mail link and find out what Walkie Talkie is all about. This one taste has me anxious to know what I've missed in previous issues, and more urgently, what lies ahead. Highly Recommended.