Broken Frontier

Eisner and Ignatz award-nominated creator Paul Hornschemeier takes readers on an experimental and intriguing journey through his formative stages.

Sequential consists of everything from heart-wrenching serialized stories to hilarious one-page comic strips. Each of these stories has a different storytelling method to it, with the author occasionally even delving into prose. In his introduction, Hornschemeier warns his readers that these styles of storytelling are experiments, some of which failed. Those failures, though, are extremely few and far between. Success or failure, watching Hornschemeier grow as an artist is almost as entertaining as his stories.

As he began this series, Hornschemeier focused on humor, largely in the one-page format. His sense of humor varies greatly from the norm, but even so, his attempts at humor succeed more often than not. "The End Is Nigh," for instance, had me doubled over with laughter. Even if a reader does not understand Hornschemeier’s sense of humor, the delightful strangeness of his work will keep the story entertaining. I had no idea what was going on in "North Dakotan Saddle Spread," but it made me laugh nonetheless. One constant throughout the entire collection is that Hornschemeier intertwines his humor with social commentary and social philosophy. While this combination occasionally fails, it more often than not strengthens all aspects of the story.

Hornschemeier never abandons humor completely, but more emotional works grow increasingly frequent as Sequential progresses. As with his humorous stories, he peppers these more serious stories with social issues. His favorite tool in social commentary is the allegory, and he is a master of that tool. While his work occasionally becomes confusing or heavy-handed, it remains more poignant than anything else. Hornschemeier succeeds most clearly in combining poignancy with social relevance in the collection’s longest story, "The Suppression of William T. Andrews." Another success in such combination comes with "Lover’s Lane." He drops social relevance for the collection’s most powerful story, "Ex Falso Quodlibet." That tale of loss will undoubtedly leave a heavy feeling in your heart, if not tears in your eyes.

Fans of Hornschemeier’s art undoubtedly think of his work as the soft style he uses in Mother, Come Home. One of the most interesting experiences of this book was seeing that he began his career with a different, harsher style. While that style is successful in itself, the soft style soon takes over in its full majesty. With that soft style comes Hornschemeier’s absolute mastery of sequential storytelling. Every line and color has a purpose, making for a clear storytelling atmosphere. He uses several different styles in this book, but the finished product is always absolutely gorgeous.

AdHouse Books has produced yet another winner with The Collected Sequential, thanks in no small part to the book design by Hornschemeier himself. This is a beautiful hardcover, inside and out. Reading this book was an incredible experience. I both laughed and cried. Even if Sequential makes you neither cry nor laugh, it will make certainly make you think.

-Eliot Johnson