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© 2001 Top Shelf Productions
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BOX
OFFICE POISON
From:
Top
Shelf Productions
Review
by: Troy
Brownfield
Publisher
Site: www.topshelfcomix.com
By:
Alex
Robinson
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If you’ve
never read Box Office Poison before, you’re actually
in luck. Top Shelf recently released a mammoth volume that
collects Alex Robinson’s winning series in its entirety. This
602-page treasure deserves a place of honor in the collection
of every discerning comics reader.
At
the center of BOP is bookstore clerk Sherman Davies
and his buddy, aspiring comic artist Ed Velasquez. Sherman
is a likeable, aspiring-writer guy that can’t get out of his
bad-job rut, and Ed initially comes up as a hapless fanboy
with dire woman issues. We meet Sherman as he is renting a
room from the extremely loveable cartoonist Jane Pekar and
her live-in boyfriend, a teacher that looks somewhat like
a cross between Jesus and pro wrestler Kevin Nash. Robinson
immediately sets up a great group dynamic, with witty exchanges
and believeable dialogue far above almost any sitcom.
Things
begin to change with the arrival of Dorothy Lestrade and Irving
Flavor. Dorothy becomes Sherman’s mysterious girlfriend, and
Golden Age comic artist Flavor takes on Ed as his assistant.
Both situations open up the narrative and begin a long road
of tough decisions and lessons about the meaning of friendship.
To say much more would ruin the amazement that you’ll experience
upon reading this tale for the first time.
Robinson
himself is nothing short of remarkable. His fluid art evokes
the mood perfectly, and he’s fantastic at capturing the subtleties
of expression. Still, it’s his writing that strikes a deeper
chord. He has a rare gift.
I
encourage all comics fans (and non-fans, for that matter)
to seek out this book. It may cost a tad more than the standard
trade paperback, but it’s well worth every penny. And of course,
part of the value is the satisfaction that you’ll get when
you loan it to a friend. Read Box Office Poison.
Troy Brownfield is the Editor-in-Chief of Shotgun Reviews. He was a video
store clerk/aspiring writer himself. He still aspires, but
usually only when it’s hot outside.
Email Troy at psikotyk@aol.com.
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