Brown, Robert S. – Dream Logic #4

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Dream Logic #4

Is it too early for a new year’s resolution? How about this site starts spending a lot more time looking at the work of people who operate outside of this country next year? I’ve been having my eyes opened in a big way recently (Robert goes to school in Gloucestershire), and it’s not like these people are easy to track down over here. This is one of those cases where the “and much more” blurb on the cover has some serious truth to it, as this comic is chock full of mostly short pieces about all sorts of things, some fictional, some not so much. On the fictional side Robert tells tales about a crazed millionaire mogul, the lull after death and before whatever happens next, a young woman who buys a train ticket to anywhere, and a cynical yet naive young girl losing her virginity. Oh, and of course there’s the silent story of Sid, a man whose desperate attempts to get a flower for a pretty girl get him in serious trouble. On the autobiographical side of things there’s the story of Robert adjusting to life away at college, an old irrational fear of his about a demon dog, and his grandfather talking to him about an old toy that used to take three days to make but was only good for a few minutes. And, like all great anthologies, there are other little pieces scattered about, including both sides of the back cover, but why spoil all the surprises for somebody who wants to pick this up? And as for the art, good lord was it gorgeous. I never expect perfection from students who send me comics (hey, it’s an experimental time of life, few people have everything nailed down that early), but Robert has some serious talent. Lush backgrounds all over the place, a lock on all kinds of facial expressions (as silent stories never work unless the story can be told through faces), plenty of goodness to be found here. This is going for about $3.55 in US dollars at the moment (12/20/07), but feel free to e-mail the man to check on that total, the way the dollar is dropping…