On the Coffee Table: Jar of Fools

Title: Jar of Fools
Writer and Artist: Jason Lutes

Image via Inside Pulse

Jason Lutes, writer and artist for the Berlin series, initially serialized Jar of Fools as a comic strip for The Standard, a Seattle weekly newspaper for which he also served as art director.  The collection was first published in 1994 in two parts by Black Eye Productions.  Drawn & Quarterly published the single-volume edition in 2003.

Jar of Fools is certainly not a happy story.  The protagonist is Ernie, a washed-up magician.  Through the course of events, he finds himself living under a highway overpass with his mentor, his ex-girlfriend, a con-man and the con-man's young daughter.  Having hit rock-bottom, the gang works desperately to find a path back to meaningful lives.

I think Lutes's greatest gift is character development.  In both Berlin and this story, my feeling of investment in his characters' well-being is very strong.  Faces, hair, clothing and posture are all clear projections of personality and emotion.

Magic is a big theme in Lutes's work.  He has also published a biography of Harry Houdini in graphic novel form: Houdini: The Handcuff King.  I'll have to keep an eye out for that one.

Comic Book Finds: Berlin 17 & 18

Title: Berlin
Issues: #17-18
Release: November 2010 and January 2012
Writer and Artist: Jason Lutes

Image via The Beguiling

Berlin is one of the most rewarding comic book series I have discovered.  The story begins in 1928 and, according to plan, will eventually run through 1933.  I have previously reviewed two trade publications: City of Stones (Issues 1-8) and City of Fire (9-16).  Issue 17 begins the third book of the trilogy, City of Light. 

The strength of this series, as with any good historical fiction, is the portrayal of the everyday lives of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.  In #17, Severing, a journalist, visits Berlin's Communist Party headquarters.  His intentions are unclear: is he thinking of joining?  writing a story?  While there, he encounters a 12-year-old girl, Silvia.  He doesn't know her but we do: essentially orphaned by the May Day Massacre but finding her way, dependent on help, yet tough as nails.  The issue ends with with Marthe (Severing's former lover) and Anna (Marthe's current lover) caught in a compromising position by their landlady.

Image via Drawn & Quarterly

#18, the most recent issue to be released, finds Severing descending into alcoholism, depression or both.  Silvia runs into trouble, both at home (she's been taken in by a Jewish family) and on the streets.  Marthe and Anna visit a nightclub, where matters take an unfortunate turn.

As readers with historical perspective, we know life in Germany is going to get a lot harder before it gets easier, especially for those already on society's fringes.  One can't help but feel invested in the characters' future.  I can't find anything about when we can expect #19 but I'm hoping soon.  If the previous 14-month interval is anything to go on, March 2013 seems like a possibility.

On the Coffee Table: City of Smoke

Title: Berlin, Book Two: City of Smoke
Writer and Artist: Jason Lutes

Image via Cosmic Comix & Toys

Book Two collects issues 9-16 of Lutes's ongoing series.  The story picks up in June 1929, a month after Book One left off.  For my review of Book One, try this link.

Berlin definitely gets racier in Book Two as Marthe is introduced to the city's underworld - drugs, orgies, secret societies, etc.  Not for kids, this one, but good value for the rest of us.  New characters are introduced - most prominently, an American jazz band in an entirely new story line (tangentially connected to the others, of course).  All the while, the socio-political melodrama is intensifying.  The stock market crashes and the already struggling German economy is further compromised.  The increasingly desperate populace is easy pickings for the rising Nazi party.

***SPOILER ALERT***

Marthe originally came to town as an art student.  Part of the cleverness of this series is how the reader is encouraged to perceive the book through Marthe's artistic lens.  In Book One, it was a discussion of perspective.  In Book Two, Marthe draws portraits as Kurt, her journalist lover, interviews witnesses to the May Day Massacre.  She later complains to Anna, a new lover (told you it gets racier), of the limitations of her portraits in telling the stories of the character.  Through this, we pay more attention to the faces of Lutes's characters.

***END OF SPOILER***

With the introduction of the jazz band, the role of music takes greater prominence in the story, testing the limits of the comics medium.  How do you convey a clarinet solo without the use of sound?  Lutes does a pretty good job over two pages.

Image via Page 45

It may be a while before Book Three is compiled but single issues now run up to 18.  I saw both 17 and 18 the last time we were at Drawn and Quarterly in Montreal but didn't pick them up - next time.  The plan is for 24 total, taking us to 1933 culminating, no doubt, with the rise of Hitler.