Broken Frontier

Guest Columnist: Shawn Hoke

Welcome to swap week at Broken Frontier.  This week, all of the BF columnists are switching columns and filling unfamiliar roles.  I like Josh’s column; he kind of inhabits that nether region between my taste in comics and the mainstream, so I figured it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch for me to do this gig for one week.  Then Frederik and the rest of the gang said that my choice had to be a “mainstream” series.  Well, crap. 

I stood in front of the comics rack at Borders and tried to focus in on a title for this column.  I contemplated doing X-Treme X-Men, and bang out a Marvel bashing column, but I didn’t want to piss on Josh’s legacy here.  He uses his column like I use mine, as a way to spread the good word on comics that deserve more attention.  So I have to go positive.  I settled on Bendis’ Daredevil, consistently my favorite mainstream title for the last year or so… Then, last week I received Josh’s column in my inbox to edit.  His latest column: Bendis’ Daredevil.  Crap, back to the drawing board I went.

But you know what, I don’t know mainstream comics.  There are plenty of good columnists and reviewers that do, but that’s not me.  So, screw Frederik and the rest of the gang!  Yeah!  I’ll go with what I know, but also something that fit’s Josh’s sensibility for this column.

On page two of Justin Madsen’s self-published mini-comic Happy Town, two young guys are engaged in next day conversation about the previous evenings meteor shower.  Everything seems normal, and then one of the guys, Karl, starts floating up into the sky.  As his friend shouts out his name, Karl’s helpless figure gets smaller and smaller, leaving his puzzled friend to mutter “Oh boy.”

Welcome to Happy Town, where the “lost gravity” phenomenon starts claiming people at the oddest of times.  Immediately when reading Happy Town, you have this “what the hell is going on here” reaction and then as Justin starts fleshing out the characters, you realize you are hooked. 

Brothers Stanley and Matt go to visit their grandma in the hospital and Matt’s attacked by a demon that grabs a mysterious locket from his neck.  A cop with a mechanical arm finds a creature with it’s wings chopped off on a hillside and a mysterious professor shows up with a large stuffed animal like bear creature…this is all in the first installment of Happy Town. 

Happy Town is a big story, with multiple threads, and Madsen handles each of them masterfully.  He weaves in and out storylines, dropping little hints and bits of foreshadowing as he goes.  After rereading the entire story so far for this column, I found myself going “Aha!” several times.  Justin has a good handle on this complicated tale and I must confess I have no idea where it will end up.  This much is sure, it will be a hell of a ride.

At one point, we are introduced to a preacher who uses “lost gravity” as a way to gather converts.  His spin on “lost gravity” is that God is calling his children home.  His followers walk around repeating, “I am as light as air, I am as light as air.”  What “lost gravity” is, I will not say, but it’s something unexpected and complicated.  Storylines crash into each other as the puzzle pieces slowly lock into place.  And I haven’t even mentioned the blizzard that slams Happy Town and dumps several feet of snow…in the summertime.  It may seem like I’ve revealed too much about the story of Happy Town , but believe me, there are surprises that pop up often.  

The art in Happy Town (both art and plot are handled by Justin) is black and white and Justin takes chances with his penciling.  The figures are elongated, nearly chinless humans, that take a bit to get used to, but once you figure out who is who there are no more identification problems.   Whole panels are often blacked out to highlight certain events or figures are drawn as inky shadows.  There is no pattern to the number of panels per page, often several are crowded onto one page followed by a sequence of fewer panels to let the art breathe.  This style mixes up the rhythm of the story and keeps the reader guessing as to what’s coming next.  The close-ups and long shots are also alternated enough to keep the reader involved in the book. 

Justin’s trees and nature scenes are often highly stylized.  Tree branches will curl charmingly into little curly cues or backgrounds will disintegrate into swirled patterns.  Rather than distract the reader, these little touches pull you into the magic that is Happy Town.  Smoke, mist and physical manifestations of power are also beautifully rendered and it’s the little details like this that add to the sense of wonder that builds as you read each issue. 

You can order issues of Happy Town from Justin’s website or from Bowzizzer.com using your credit card or PayPal.   Here is a primer on how to get started with Happy Town:

Buy the Happy Town Collection Volume 1 that includes issues 1-3 for $4.50 (84 pages).  Next, you can buy the Happy Town Collection Volume 2 that includes issues 4 and 5 for $4.50 (72 pages).  Then after becoming addicted to the series you can buy the individual issues 6-10 at your own pace.  Or, you could go nuts and buy the Happy Town Box Set that includes issues 1-10 for $24.00 (416 pages). 

You know how shipping costs can eat into your comics budget when you order comics online?  It’s a bitch ain’t it.  Well the shipping costs for any Happy Town book from Justin’s site are included in the book’s price.  So, the Happy Town Collection Volume One is really $4.50, no shipping charges.  And at Bowzizzer.com, shipping is free on any order over $10. 

Guiding Line:  Happy Town is an ongoing self-published comic that will appeal to fans who enjoy a challenging, intriguing story.  All the money goes to mad scientist Justin Madsen so he can make more stories.  What could be better than that?