Stocking Stuffer: Mister Blank
Very, very last-minute, yes, and it might not get here in time - and Amazon only has one copy anyway - but you might also be able to find this at your local comics shop, especially if they deal in used books as a sideline.
Christopher J. Hicks' Mister Blank is deeply '90s in its presentation and story: a hero deconstructed to the point of near-anonymity, just a smooth face in a gray suit, but one who despite his almost negative individual identity is full of a sense of purpose and devotion to a cause. I've never seen anything else by Hicks and a search of Facebook, Wikipedia, Amazon, etc., just now, came up with zilch. Did he retire? Did he pass away? I have no way of knowing. I know only that this book, with its grayscale, hand-drawn style and the trade paperback's newsprint feel made a huge impression on me as it applied age-old presentation methods to the task of telling a very modern story that surprises as it expands and its complicated mythology comes into full bloom. The book's conceit is that it's about someone who's such an everyman that he's a nobody but that shorthand couldn't be farther from the truth. I loved reading it and a glance at just the eyebrows on any given page are enough to make me think good things about it.
If you have a friend who likes obscure, retro titles, this is a must-give. The only problem might be finding one to give in the first place and, once you do, resisting the urge to read it before handing it over.
Klarion
Posted to Trade Paperback on 20 December 2010
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