Comics Fondle

There are a handful of things I harp on repeatedly here at Comics Fondle. Primarily, static figures and men writing female narrators. The argument for the latter being, at best, they’re doing a respectful version of Jack Nicholson’s romance novel author from As Good As It Gets. Worst case… they’re writing a female narrator to sell books to maladjusted male readers (a case in point would be Jeph Loeb having Supergirl make out with Poison Ivy).

Anyway, going in to Hurricane Season, I immediately noticed (and feared) the female narrator. She’s not terrible–Sukarangsan does most of her stuff through an eight-year-old’s diary, which gives him a pass on lots–especially after the story picks up. While Hurricane Season is about a freak hurricane hitting Houston and its effect on the character, Billie, Sukarangsan sort of defines her by her relationships with other people… she’s got an absent husband (more on him in a second), an uncle who’s contrived, a garden gnome she drinks with, a fellow hotel guest who flirts with her, and a crazy friend (Sukarangsan’s best creation, writing wise–an absolute nutjob who’s not full of shit… he’s great).

Sukarangsan’s going to be continuing Hurricane Season, which is great, because the pace–once Billie’s interacting (though Sukarangsan’s scenes of her alone in the hotel room are fantastic)–really picks up and I got antsy for more as I finished the issue.

So, besides Sukarangsan’s questionable little girl’s diary (I mean… maybe he should read some Ramona books if he’s going to keep up the device)–oh, I forgot, she continues the diary in the present… so I’ll get to it now. Sukarangsan is setting her up to be unfaithful to her husband. I mean, maybe she’ll divorce him, whatever, but he’s setting her up. It’s not her fault, her husband is a complete jackass who won’t come back to see her–there’s a subtle moment when Billie lies to her crazy friend about the husband not being able to come back (when he’s actually unwilling). The diary entries she’s writing don’t reveal or reflect the woman abandoned by her husband, which the solitary scenes in the hotel room do. I guess there is a problem with that bit then….

Sukarangsan’s dialogue between wife and husband (via cell phone) is real bad too. It might just be he’s writing a traumatic scene, it might more be the husband isn’t a fully realized character, even off-screen, just a plot device.

But it’s great–Sukarangsan’s art is nice, very confident, and his sense of scenic pacing and composition are excellent. I can’t wait to read what comes next.

A

Technorati Tags: Jon Sukarangsan, Hurricane Season, Fortune Cookie Press, Comic Book, Review

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