The Complete Boring Boy
The Complete Boring Boy © Neale Blanden
| The Complete Boring Boy Neale Blanden |
| Links: Neale's comics online at: Sick Puppy 8D |
Neale declares in the introduction of the book the logic behind its creation - initially aimed at cynical teenagers, he thought of tapping into his own feelings of the world at that time, & came up with Boring Boy.
It starts off lamely enough, with a series of 3 panel cartoons with the same ending... Just when your credulity is stretched to the limit by initial few pages direction takes a more interesting turn.
Begone 3 panel tier cartoon!
Begone same gag!
The no-gag gag done with we move onto a little charter development. Perhaps this is the point mentoned in the introduction where Neale says that he realised that this would not be published? So, perhaps the stage fright is done with, & creative freedom blooms a little. Whatever... It starts to actually get interesting, nay, amusing. The cynical attitude is still there - after all this is the character's raison de etre. It is now deployed in a targetted way instead of just at the employ of the no-gag.
Points are made & scored. The reader is confronted & played with. All that said, I cannot say this reader felt confronted so much so to be stirred into actually 'thinking', but I am a world weary cynic myself and as such, I was happily engaged by favored little cynicisms.
The way Neale cartoons makes his characters seem to be on the verge of nervous collapse. The cartooning is on the cute side of the underground & it suits the subect well; all cutesy faces & acute anxiety.
Neale concedes, that in his opinion it is not his best work, but as it made me chuckle, if you can be bothered it may well do the same for you.
mooncat
| The Complete Boring Boy: 28 A5 colour stock pages. | Received at ZUM! HQ: 4/8/01 |
$2AU +P+P. | Neale Blanden, Beautiful Artform Corp., PO Box 1173, Huntingdale, Vic 3166, Australia. |