Every issue of sibling creative team Maria and Peter Hoey’s Coin Op anthology series is a testament to the potential of comics as a storytelling form. From one perspective they can be seen as experimental and playful in their approach to the medium. Conversely, they can also be considered as simply showing the most profound understanding of the structure of comics narrative; one that displays an innate and intuitive perception of what can be achieved on the page. Whatever your viewpoint the one undeniable truth is that every edition of Coin-Op is a treasure chest of short comics gems, as evidenced in the most recent issue Coin-Op #9, this time subtitled The Long Cool Eye.
Issue # 9’s opening story ‘The Chorus Repeats’ for example, begins as a near-future study of solitude and loneliness – a character piece fused with vague sci-fi elements – before the rug is suddenly but gently pulled out from under us and the narrative realities are revealed. To say more would be to ruin the reading experience but this tale of one old man at the end of his life is all the more poignant for its quiet understatement.
Similarly in ‘The Event Planner’ our expectations are brutally turned on their head in a silent short that evokes small town America and a feeling of community before its apparent plucky nonchalance and jaunty pacing jumps into far darker territory. Coin-Op #9 is full of twists and turns and that’s repeated again in the genre-crashing ‘Double Over the Rainbow’ that begins as film noir homage to Double Indemnity, translating the movie into the language of comics and then not so much abruptly switching direction as veering off into an entirely different narrative lane. (There’s a filmic clue in the title here.)
In the largely wordless ‘Wheel Well’ a fugitive escapes his pursuers by hiding in the wheel well of a plane just before take-off. Here perspective is everything – both literally and metaphorically – as constantly shifting vantage points from panel to panel embed us in the enormity of events, and a symbolic coda hints at release and freedom.
Finally, the biographical ‘The Long Cool Eye of Joseph Losey’ provides a succinct but informative look at the film director’s life and work. The juxtaposition of Losey speaking to “camera” across the top of each page with tableaux from his movies underneath ably emphasising this comparison of vision and craft.
Throughout, colour is used with confidence and flair as an essential storytelling tool; theme and tone underlined as a vital component of the process. Every issue of Coin-Op is a reminder of the sophistication of comics as a medium. Issue #9 is no exception.
Peter & Maria Hoey • Coin-Op Comics, $19.95
Review by Andy Oliver
