Broken Frontier

The slow, steady slide of a dream coming true – comic fans will find it hard not to empathize in this heartbreaking issue of Tom Beland’s autobiographical series.

His first three mini-comics printed and packed and ready to go, Beland tells the story of his first Wondercon, the first comic convention that he attended as a "pro" and not a fan. Once situated behind his very own booth, Beland’s narrative unfolds with an understated sincerity, turning each phenomenal situation into something wholly human. His peculiar Con experiences such as socially interacting with absolute strangers, marketing comics with cookies, and meeting the legends of his fanboy childhood (and adulthood, for that matter) all stream effortlessly together into one universal epiphany: all it ever took was for him to try and never stop trying. The events contained herein are simple and easily recognizable by anyone who ever has dreamed of turning their hobby – their love – into something more.

TSSTG is Beland’s own little comic that could, and it definitely still can. From the artist’s very beginnings, this comic (it initially was just a strip) was his hope, the story that he felt he had to tell. It began as a romance, focusing primarily on Beland’s first meeting of his wife, Lily, and their eventful, lengthy courtship. But the series’ sturdy fan base has kept it going longer than Beland probably expected, and so his story had to continue onto its next inevitable and – sticking with the title’s purport – true life-shaping event in the artist’s life. I’ve personally enjoyed TSSTG since its first full-length issue, as it is written with a charming openness and with the artist’s endearing clarity of his inner self. There has never been any pretension to Beland’s voice, never any boasting or pity-driven self-deprecation. Rather, the introspection offered is only ever used deftly, as an enhancement to the straightforward recounting of events. After 16 consecutive issues, I can only say that Beland’s handle on this technique has evolved into something more than enjoyable – he has achieved poignancy, too. He’s made success a tear-jerking event, and that is an immensely difficult response to garner.

Beland’s artwork has also grown, becoming something remarkably consistent. It now resembles the symmetry of an animator’s frame-by-frame line work rather than the comic strip artist’s kinetic scrawl it was so many years ago. The postures, gestures, expressions, and overall body language his characters display are wisely chosen, almost intuitively so; their suggestion to the reader is communicated seamlessly. Only occasionally does Beland demonstrate a lack of editorial restraint by sending his characters into the realm of schmaltzy sentimentality. Overall, though, the narrative/visual one-two punch Beland unleashes within the latest issue of TSSTG is natural to the point of subliminal. There is no longer any effort on the reader’s part required to enjoy the immensely satisfying story within, only a willingness to crack open the cover and flip through the pages.

While TSSTG certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed in the superhero dominated comic culture, it absolutely deserves an even wider, more diverse audience. I began reading comics because I loved superheroes. I continue to read comics today (twenty years later) because, quite frankly, I still love superheroes. I read Tom Beland’s True Story, Swear to God because it is the best slice-of-life indie comic on the shelf that even a genre-fiction loving malcontent can enjoy. Beland is a comics geek, and he’s an artist; he’s us, and I dare anyone not to feel for his story the way he tells it. Learning about him, we can’t help but learn about ourselves, and that is a storytelling ability that is rare to find.