Review: George Sprott: 1894-1975 by Seth
George Sprott: 1894-1975
Seth
Drawn & Quarterly, May
2009, $24.95
Comics very, very rarely tell stories about old, fat, boring
men, which most people probably don’t think is a problem. But no art form can
ever become mature if it ignores large swaths of the world, and it’s
indisputable that our world is filled
with men who are old, or fat, or boring, or (even worse) all three at once.
Maybe none of us would ever want comics to be only about the Sprotts among us, but the fact that there’s
now room for comics about them is a good sign.
[[[George Sprott: 1894-1975]]] is an expanded version of a story that originally appeared from late 2006 through March of 2007 in single-page installments in the [[[New York Times Magazine’s]]] “Funny Pages” section. (Which, by the way, seems to have quietly ended with
Gene Luen Yang’s story “Prime Baby” a few months back.) In the Times serialization, each installment of Sprott was a single large page, essentially a chapter of
the longer work. Those pages appear here, in the same sequence and not apparently
changed, but they’re surrounded by new work – both Seth’s usually impeccable
(if chilly, and in his typical blue tones) book design, with illustrations and
decorations, and some new comics stories to expand that original story. Primary
among the new work is a sequence of eight stories – each one three pages long, and
each taking place on one particular day, in a different decade over Sprott’s
long life, arranged from 1906 through 1971 as the book goes on. There’s also an
impressive six-page fold-out, near the end of the book, that looks to depict
Sprott’s scattered thoughts as he died. On top of those, there are short
introductory and ending pieces: the first is thematically interesting, if
mostly wheel-spinning, while the new two-page “Sign Off” from the fictional TV station that Sprott worked for is another slab of very provincial Canadian
bacon added to a plate already swimming in maple flavoring and Timbits.
For those not in the know, Heeb Magazine is the cleverly titled magazine for mostly young people (and me) of Jewish, and generally Ashkenazi, descent. It’s clever, relevant, and not terribly religious. They regularly cover the comics scene; I know of at least one comics shop that carries the magazine: Comix Revolution in Evanston Illinois.
And now, the other shoe drops.
One of the major successes of the Sci Fi Channel was the arrival of [[[Ghost Hunters]]], a series focusing on the explorations into the paranormal as conducted by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson. The Roto Rooter plumbers turned their fascination with the otherworldly by creating TAPS, the Atlantic Paranormal Society, based in Rhode Island. Along with other trained investigators, they have since 2004 been racking up terrific ratings for the channel. Other paranormal shows arrived, such as [[[Destination Truth]]] and the GH spin-offs [[[Ghost Hunters International]]] and the forthcoming [[[Ghost Hunters Academy]]]. The investigators have become regulars on the convention circuit so you may have seen them.
, 
Candace Bushnell, the writer whose Sex And The City columns were the inspiration for the TV series and movie, has bounced back from last year’s cancellation of Lipstick Jungle on NBC and chosen the web for her new venture– a new series called 
The [[[X-Men]]] animated episodes from the 1990s continue to be regarded as among the very best adaptation of comics to another medium. The ever-growing cast of mutants, menaces, and alternate timelines was certainly a rich source of material and much of it wound up making the transition from page to screen. Fox enjoyed terrific ratings and it helped push the X-Men from comic cult favorite to mainstream phenomenon. The five seasons were an important stepping stone in getting Marvel’s uncanny heroes from comics to the silver screen.
The collections contain the episodes in airdate order rather than the production order which results in some head scratching moments when the continuity doesn’t line-up. This is a real shame since BVHE had a chance to correct Fox’s error and give the fans a truly cool collection. Similarly, the discs come devoid of extras save trailers for other product.
