Broken Frontier

Three cheers for comic books that don’t feel pressured to be about superheroes or robots or nearly-naked women! And three cheers for Oni Press for having the guts and the staying power to make sure that good comics about the myriad other parts of the human experience find their way into most comic shops.

Those of you familiar with the indie comics scene probably know Andi Watson. And if you don’t recognize the name, you’ve probably seen his work if you’ve ever been brave enough to venture into whatever dark corner your local comic shop keeps the books that aren’t Marvel, DC, or Image in origin. His simple figures and his lovely words have previously been seen in Love Fights, Breakfast After Noon, Dumped, Geisha, and more.

Watson’s newest is called Little Star, and it is the tale of a British dad coming to terms with the realities of actually being a father. Simon’s life is not where he though it would be, he barely sees his wife, he doesn’t have a noteworthy career to speak of, and to top it all off, Simon’s daughter seems to prefer her mummy despite the fact that Simon is indisputably her primary caregiver. This is the story. Nothing explodes, the world is not in immediate need of saving, and the nudity is the farthest it could possibly be from cheesecake. This is just a real story about real people.

Fans of Andi Watson’s previous work are going to like this. The strength in his writing is in a frank kind of honesty that complements his simplistic art style perfectly. There is nothing fancy about the story. There is only the story told exactly how it is. We see all the bumps on the road of Simon’s life, and through his narration, we have an opportunity to get inside his head and see what he’s feeling.

The only hitch is: we don’t get to see that Simon is feeling much of anything. Much of the narration has an anesthetized quality to it, as if Simon were merely observing that life is going the way it is. He doesn’t get either saddened or elated at much of anything. He never expresses frustration, even internally when his daughter slights him time and time again. And it should be noted that his little girl is inadvertently very very cruel to her patient and loving daddy.

There are plenty of touching and undoubtedly true moments in the book and there is a wide range of emotional content in the actual events of the comic. In particular, Simon’s meditations on the differences between how people look at Dads with screaming kids versus Mums with screaming kids is quite funny. It’s just odd how evenly and low-key Simon’s accompanying narration is during these high and low points. This is perhaps intentional, but we’re never given an explanation as to why Simon has become so resigned to the life he’s got.

I’m going to admit that short of being male, I have very little in common with Simon and his life experience, being several years away from marriage, kids, and the accompaniments that come with those things. So take into account that I’ve got very little to identify with in the story of Little Star, which could very well affect how I feel about the experience of reading it. If you’re like me, your first exposure to Watson might better be through one of his previous efforts. Those readers out there who have been through a little of what Simon’s been going through are sure to delight in it, however.

And if you’re one of those people, bless you for having gotten to that point in your life where you know where Watson is coming from and yet you still buy and read comics. People like Andi Watson are an important part of the thing we love and their stories deserve all the intention you can give them.

- Jesse Vigil