Hosted by Jay @ Bibliophilopolis
Klassik Komix #1 by Steven Millhauser
Card picked: Six of Diamonds
From: The Barnum Museum
Review: A story told as descriptions of panels in the fictional first issue of Klassik Komix. The cover is described as having a lobster-man on the cover. The internal panels present a surreal evening in the life of our protagonist, a Victorian man named Alfred. Or, maybe the whole thing is just an inspirational dream that Alfred will use to fuel his writings.
Millhauser is a very visual writer. He does a great job of imbuing his descriptions of comic panels with overly vivid colors, repetitions of form, and the little details that are the shorthand of the comic form.
Blue lines of tension crease her forehead and two black vertical lines separate her arched blue-black eyebrows.
Story-wise, I feel like I’m missing an allusion. The descriptions are all very fine, but it doesn’t really go anywhere.
Interesting that I should read this story after last week’s Jack Kirby episode.
If you have a MyJSTOR account (and why wouldn’t you?), the story is available in Grand Street, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Autumn, 1988), as well as in The Barnum Museum.
Simple Tricks & Nonsense 