Broken Frontier

Slice of life comics are one of the hardest genres to make a distinction in. Besides the fierce competition by such luminaries as Craig Thompson, Alison Bechdel, Adrian Tomine, etc., it can also be unforgiving in its perception by the general public of navel-gazing and whiny rants. Mark Musschoot -  artist name Marmus - is one of the brave soldiers throwing himself willingly into this battle to emerge victorious with his first full-length OGN Cracked.

Art and Jan are two friends who walk through life with a similar hopeful outlook but both plagued by their own troubles. Art teaches history to a troublesome class while dealing with his demented mother at the same time. Jan teaches art and builds gambas. Trying to pick up after a failed relationship he sets his sights on a new love which promises solace if the feeling should turn out to be mutual.

Both Jan and Art are likable protagonists, though Art maybe has one jump ahead of Jan being a bit more likable in character. It is his meanderings that take up most of the book, ranging from his insights in teaching history to pubescent teens to his mother reliving her childhood due to the onset of dementia. Jan is a bit more quiet and more of a shut in, spending a lot of his time building the romantic musical instrument, the gamba, the precursor of the cello. His blossoming love for a client tearing him up, fearing the feeling isn’t mutual. Their joint trip to England  riffing off of each other leads both of them to come to inner realisations and a desire to take life back into their own hands.

Marmus presents a rather small and relatively low key turning point in both their lives. He focuses on their everyday lives, cutting out the emotional scenes with a finely tuned scalpel. There are no life inspiring monologues or philosophical meanderings about the meaning of life in this book. Marmus leads us by the hand and gently acquaints us with Jan and Art, two normal people with normal problems, and makes us care for them. They are your neighbours, your friends, the people you walk past everyday at the train station. He injects an emotional warmth and intelligence into the dialogues and story and never veers off into the fantastic or coincidental happenings that enrich the characters' lives in a forced storytelling mode. The story flows naturally from the characters and shows us an emotional depth and an author who really cares for his creations.

The aquarel stylings of Marmus have a softness and fluidity that enhance the reading experience, letting the eye float from one panel to another. His elastic line extends not only to the characters but also to the panels themselves. The drawing certainly style fits the story, adding touches of warmth and an emotional resonance that keeps the story alive.

Marmus’ Cracked has flown a bit under the radar and his style certainly isn’t as flashy as Brecht Evens but he has created a truly honest and reflecting graphic novel whose reflections on love, friendship and life will reverberate gently in your mind after reading it.

Cracked by Marmus is published by Bries. It is a full colour soft cover counting 112 pages and retailing for €23.