[SPOILERS AHEAD]
It’s been a couple of decades since we’ve had just a plain ol’ comic book from one of the last few still-standing underground comix legends, Robert Crumb. And on a purely artistic level, I am happy to report that he hasn’t lost a step with his illustrative mastery.
The big theme for the main stories of the book is, as you may gather from the title, paranoia, particularly in relation to conspiracy theories. A large part of these stories are caricatures of Crumb himself speaking directly to the reader, outlining his beliefs and opinions on various conspiracies, particularly those around the anti-vaccination movement (with which he sympathizes). He does point out occasionally that he knows he’s ranting, and that yes, maybe he’s the crazy one, but by and large it’s clear the sympathetic point of view is the conspiracy-minded one he’s espousing.
At one point Crumb complains that someone has lumped “alien visitation” in with some other, wildly racist, conspiracy, and he wonders why the former, something he feels that people have general interest in, should be associated with something as specifically awful as the latter. Which misses the point that most populist discussion around alien visitation is essentially defined by conspiracy, and in some cases can be inherently racist itself (see any “ancient alien” type show where primitive (cough)non-white(cough) cultures’ achievements can “only” be explained by alien intervention).
It’s…a lot of text-heavy pages, and I’m not doing much more here than picking out one particular example. I realize this sounds like a chore to get through, but like Crumb’s best work, it’s a peek directly into his head and what he’s worried about and what he’s obsessing over and no one does this sort of thing quite like him. It still functions as a good demonstration of misdirected thinking, and Crumb’s a smart guy…he knows what this all sounds like, and admits as much in the comic. I do hope he’s joking about not getting the COVID shot, though.
Other stories of note is a particular experience Crumb had on LSD decades ago, the memory loss of the evening that followed, and his sometimes nightmarish quest to figure out what happened. Keeping with the secondary theme of “problems with drugs,” I suppose, but he recalls so much of the event in great detail, that when he reveals there’s a bit he can’t remember, we feel that weird loss.
And there’s the final “Dirty Laundry” story, featuring Crumb and his late cartoonist wife, Aline. It’s a tale of what appears to be too many publishers of their work going out of business…a sad sign of our times. But it’s told with humor and Crumb’s hilariously bad bedside manner (where he tells Aline she’s just driving all these companies out of business with her work). At one point Aline’s probably facetious wish for her work to be forgotten takes on an extra depressing level knowing that she’s passed on as we read this. It’s a story that’s equal parts depressing and hilarious, which is like Crumb’s sweet spot.
Other stories round out the book (several single-pagers, and the longer “Deep State Woman,” which you can tell by the title is another conspiracy-minded entry), and it’s good to know Crumb, even in his 80s, can still put out work like this. Well, yes, I know I have problems with some of this comic, but I can’t deny the technique at work here. Hopefully this isn’t his last hurrah…I’d love to see more.
• • •
I have a very minor quibble with a character detail revealed in this issue, in a series that I’ve been enjoying once the first couple of issues shook out the rough spots and it found its footing. And I liked this new issue, too, as it covers the World War II-era beginnings of the team.
But the one thing that kinda mildly sticks in my craw, and I fully understand if this is just a retcon and I’ve got to learn to deal with it, and it involves Johnny Thunder. Yes, it’s me, the Johnny Thunder purist, the last Johnny Thunder fan standing in this brave new post-Crisis/post-Zero Hour/post-New 52/post-Rebirth/post-whatever else world.
Anyway, he tries to introduce himself to Jay Garrick, explaining that he has a magic Thunderbolt he can summon, that’s currently in the form of a pink pen.
…Which is a thing I don’t remember from his early stories, or his Silver Age appearances (though I could have missed something, admittedly). Johnny would say his magic word, “cei-u” (often in some variation of “say, you” in dialogue) and the Thunderbolt would show up and do his bidding.
In the very late years of Johnny’s existence, as an old man suffering from dementia, the Thunderbolt had been disguised as that pink pen, before being passed along to his successor, Jakeem Thunder. So Johnny does appear to have created the “Thunder-pen” concept, though not revealed until…a couple or three decades ago? Something like that.
So what’s going on in this new JSA is the establishment that Johnny didn’t just start doing that under the influence of dementia, but something he’s been doing all along. We just never saw it on panel ’til the end.
I guess in talking it out like this I’ve unstuck my craw and am better with it. It was just a surprise to see this particular character quirk that I more closely associate with another era, and not part of the Golden Age. But I guess it’s fine.
• • •
Also, today is the 11th anniversary of the opening of my store, Sterling Silver Comics.
