The World Is My Fuse

I was at the comic store the other day, primarily to pick up Jeff Lemire's massive Essex County collection to tide me over for a couple days (I'll get to that one in a future post), and as I usually do when buying books or records, for every one or two items I go in with the intention of picking up I always try to grab something I wouldn't normally read or listen to and resign myself to either being really impressed or really let down.

And that's how I ended up with a copy of Canadian cartoonist Hope Larson's Mercury. It had a lot going for it, despite the fact that it was in a sealed bag, preventing a quick flip through, I knew three things: Canadian cartoonist/writer, awesome; Story takes place in Canadian setting (Nova Scotia), more awesome; and it had a cover price of only $10, the trifecta was complete.

I also noticed was the book kept saying things like "Great for Young Readers" and "Ages 12 and up", which I discounted because so long as a comic (and graphic novel) doesn't have sex,gore or swearing, it's generally assumed to be a kids book. Cause it's basically a picture book, right?

But for once the back cover doesn't lie, it is definitely geared towards a younger audience who are into teen romance with a touch of history and magic thrown in. Not a horrible book by any stretch, but not what I was expecting. Larson is still an incredible cartoonist, I enjoy her simple polished black and white style, and the shifting focus on either black or white heavy pages to signify the time periods was a great idea. I'll just go ahead and say it, from an entirely aesthetic viewpoint, the sections of the story set in the 1800s are head and shoulders above the rest of the book, the cartooning is that good.

That's not to knock the rest of the book however, there is a humour that ends up being relied on in most teen romance stories of any medium that has always amused me, and it's in no shortage here, including a running gag that the main character, grade ten student Tara Fraser bears a distinct resemblance to a male classmate. This is a nice way to balance out the two stories that run parallel to one another throughout the entire novel, while the 1800s are much nicer looking, the present day section has more engrossing content.

Reading this has made me feel the need to track down some of Larson's work that hasn't been marketed to middle school-aged teens, if she managed to keep my attention well enough that I tore through this book in one sitting, I have high hopes for some of her work that I can sink my teeth (and eyes) into.

So was the ten-dollar mystery purchase worth the money? I would say so.