Beg the Question
By Bob Fingerman
Published by Fantagraphics Books
Scheduled for publication in October, 2002
Bob Fingerman's delightfully realistic portrayal of a young couple in love and about to be married, originally published in serial form in Minimum Wage, will be issued in hardcover by Fantagraphics this October and it's material well deserving of a permanent edition.
A saga of youthful lust, love, mistakes and the meaning of commitment, Beg The Question's throughline never forgets to entertain as it depicts Rob and Sylvia's lives in minute detail. Rob is the central character, and presumably a thinly-veiled version of Fingerman himself. Rob is a freelance cartoonist trying to get by, while Sylvia is slightly older and with a lesbian relationship in her past that fascinates and arouses Rob.
Sex plays a key role in the story here. Rob and Sylvia are healthy young people who never miss a chance to get it on, even when their friend is in the next room, or when Rob suspects they're being peeped at by a horny teenager. It's a healthy sexuality the couple shares, and one which leads to an unplanned pregnancy. Fingerman is quite upfront about the emotions such an event can trigger, and he's to be applauded for the way it's handled here. Rob's fear of fatherhood is a key theme of the story, as it is a key theme for many, many men who will read this book, and it plays a role in the ultimate resolution of the tale.
I don't want to give the impression that this is a serious graphic novel. It is serious in its ambitions and execution, but there are lots of laughs, many centered on the assorted freaks, weirdos and losers Rob and Sylvia's lives are populated with. It's a tribute to Fingerman's skill that, as Rob and Sylvia clearly have, the reader comes to love them -- with one or two exceptions for characters clearly meant to be too annoying to be loved, and yet we've all known people like that and loved them anyway. Just like Rob and Sylvia.
This graphic novel captures the joys, delights, highs and lows of life in your 20s and 30s better than just about anything I've read. Its sense of place -- New York City and environs -- is astounding in its clarity and adds another character to the story. Beg the Question challenges the artform but not the reader, by setting the bar high for autobiographical comics while presenting a compelling, hilarious look at the life of two very likable characters and their friends and family. Once you start reading, I doubt you'll be able to stop until you've read the entire thing. That's what happened to me. Grade: 5/5