Don't pick up this graphic novel unless you plan to read it through in
one sitting - it's that involving. An (incomplete) collection and
reformatting of cartoonist Hartley Lin's Pope Hats series, Young Frances
details the corporate law firm world of clerk Frances Scarland, and the
relationship with her less straight-edge best friend, actress Vickie
Griffin. The nuances of their relationship and the absurd and stressful
office sequences are created with empathy, knowledge and irony. They all
ring true.
The story is told in that fashionable indie style
which mixes carefully observed detail with a more cartoony surface (most
likely a half-century-later derivative - whether conscious or not - of
Herge's influence). In short - it's beautifully drawn and beautifully
paced. Readers of any age will find much to appreciate in it.
Here're #fourcomics that, long ago, influenced me to start making my own comics:
Those who regularly read Eventized will have probably noticed I read a lot of Jughead comics. Samm Schwartz is the reason why.
For over thirty years, Schwartz defined, honed and perfected Jughead using an innovative style which often ignored panel borders and always placed an emphasis on gracefully slapstick body language.
If you recognize the photo of Schwartz, above, it may be because he frequently drew himself into his stories. He also improvised with the scripts he was given and made them his own.
The photo above accompanies an afterward written by Schwartz's daughter, Joanne Colt, published in Archie: The Best of Samm Schwartz, Vol. 1, recently released by IDW. This volume reprints what I consider some of the lesser (but still strong) Schwartz material: his late '50s/early '60s work, which was largely inked by other cartoonists.
In the mid-'60s, Schwartz took a several-year-long break from Archie comics. When he returned, he inked his own pencils in a "clear line" style amazingly similar to (and most likely influenced by) Herge's Tintin books. It was then that Schwartz produced hundreds of stories for Jughead, Reggie and Me and other titles well into the '90s. The '70s were a golden age for Schwartz fans and Archie fans and I'm very much looking forward to Archie: The Best of Samm Schwartz, Vol. 2.
Purchase Archie: The Best of Samm Schwartz, Vol. 1 here: http://www.amazon.com/Archie-Best-Samm-Schwartz-1/dp/1613770413
A mystery was cleared up for me this week. I knew from years of reading Jughead that artist Samm Schwartz had left the series sometime in the mid-'60s and then reappeared around 1970 with a more pared-down, minimalistic "ligne claire" (clear line) style in the manner of Herge.
Thanks to the Grand Comics Database, I now know what issue he rejoined the series: #179. He went on to draw most of the stories in this title for the next 17 years (often injecting cameos of himself in the stories).
Here's a link to the Grand Comics Database, a great resource! http://www.comics.org/
