August 18, 2001
Comic Review: Bughouse (Lafler)
I couldn't resist a story of jazz-playing insects. It is a previously undiscovered weakness I must have. And the story didn't disappoint - it seemed to be a loosely-based on real jazz players lives, in that they had trouble getting a record deal, had to deal with drug and relationship issues, and have to face death. But I think I liked it a lot just because of my interest in jazz and trying to see how it compared to real jazz artists I know about. Of course, I don't know enough about that to make any real conclusions, but it was interesting to think about as I read it. So it is hard for me to know if I would recommend it to people. The story isn't really anything profound, some of the dialog is clunky, a lot of the characters are 1-dimensional, and the art is kind of mixed. The drawings of people playing music are amazing, capturing the feel of the experience well. The drawings of the characters getting hopped up on "bugjuice" are also pretty interesting. But some of the other scenes have their ups and downs. So, I'm glad I read it, but I think you may have to be interested in the premise for it to work for you.
Posted by babar at August 18, 2001 10:17 PM