Jeffrey, Nick – Centerfield

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Centerfield

I have to say, I’m impressed. I thought Nick was an incredibly funny guy, granted, but I wasn’t so sure that he had much in the way of serious stories in him. And, as he says in his intro, he may never have another story as worthy of telling in him, but it’s great that he nailed the one he did have. This is a story from his grade school days when he played right field on a baseball team. He hated sports, it’s just that he went to a school with a tiny class and you were pretty much required to be on everything. Speaking as somebody with a graduating grade school class of 13 people, I can relate. Woven into this are glimpses of his father and some of the other people in his school, including a kid named Peter Gorey, who pretty much single-handedly transformed their baseball team into a powerhouse, and Nick was along for the ride. This is mostly a story of his life at the time (and I don’t want to give more away than that, sorry) and this is probably the best thing I’ve read all year. I always feel like a schmuck trying to explain emotionally compelling aspects of stories, so I’ll leave all that alone. This nailed just about everything that was possible to nail, and it managed to do it without coming close to being overbearing or obnoxious, and I can’t think of a higher recommendation than that. Oh, and it was put out by Alternative Comics, so chances are good that you can find it at your local comic store, assuming that your local comic store doesn’t suck. Contact info is up there, it’s really your loss if you skip out on this one…