The Nimrod #7
By Lewis Trondheim
Published by Fantagraphics Books
A new issue of The Nimrod is always welcome, and during the current effort to keep Fantagraphics alive, I'm certainly going to suggest you give this delightful and unpredictible series a look.
This issue finds Trondheim's poultry-like avatar ruminating on the state of his life, comparing and contrasting his middle age to the lives of his friends and acquaintances. After hearing a funny story involving pee-filled water balloons -- one with a surprisingly apt moral, that "the pee bag is really the equivalent of the atom bomb for adults...it's the ultimate weapon" -- Trondheim is sent casting back through his memories and finds himself coming up wanting.
We see him as a child, stealing small change (an incident that he still seems guilty about) to use in a vending machine -- but not getting the toy he wanted, a turn of events that sours one of the small pleasures of his childhood. Bringing himself back into the present, he reflects "How pathetic. I'm telling my story even though there's nothing to tell." It's a Seinfeld-like moment, an "anecdote about nothing," if you will, but like that multi-layered TV series, the joy isn't in the events, it's how we witness them. Trondheim is a masterful storyteller, and his memories are gold, even if he thinks they're worthless.
After the dinner party with the pee-bag story, Lewis retires to the comfort of his bedroom, only to be confronted with a flabby belly and dreams of getting old. In his dreams he reveals his fears and paranoias, and concludes "I don't have peace of mind." It's a stark revelation, if whimsically revealed -- and its depth is all the more surprising depicted as it is in Trondheim's loose, playful style.
The issue's main story concludes with a somewhat wacky meeting of L'Association in his living room; Trondheim wants to talk business, his drunken pal wants to chase him with a toilet brush. There's a metaphor in there somewhere. A number of other one- and two-page pieces round out this outstanding issue, but the reason to pick it up is the feature story, a unique reflection on aging, friendship and memory in the singularly appealing and often deeply touching style of Lewis Trondheim. You can buy this issue and much, much more Trondheim at the Lewis Trondheim page at Fantagraphics.com. Grade: 4.5/5