Backwash - Newly Discovered Comics: ONEPLUSONE

This is the first installment of Backwash, which will talk about newly discovered older comics that are a bit under the radar.

Just today I had my first excursion to the local half-price bookstore. I was excited when I saw that they had a plentiful supply of comics and graphic novels - at least twice as many as I usually see at a used bookstore. I find it kind of ironic that discount stores are intended to save you money, but since you're more willing to buy something for discount than you would at a higher price, you end up spending more money than you would have otherwise. Anyways, I walked out with more than a few good finds: the entire Warren Ellis run of Ultimate Fantastic Four, Will Eisner's Last Day in Vietnam, the first volume of Hellboy, the first five issues of Doktor Sleepless, and on pure impulse, a book on Oni Press that caught my eye called OnePlusOne.

I have a pretty good batting average with works from Oni Press lately. They've published everything by Bryan Lee O'Malley, which has all been brilliant work, especially with Scott Pilgrim becoming one of my favorite comics ever. They also boast some of Greg Rucka's best works, including both Whiteout and Queen and Country. Needless to say, their editors seem to have pretty good taste.

Could a little label on the side of the book predict how good it is? In this case, it turned out to be true.

Okay, well I didn't buy it just because it was on Oni. From flipping through it, the cover aesthetic looked kind of noirish and neat, and the interior art looked pretty sharp. And hell, it was like 6 bucks, so if I didn't like it it wouldn't be a big waste.

The book was pretty damn good in a way I wasn't expecting. What begins as a short story about a man who is able to see the future physical mutilations or deaths of everybody he sees turns into a story about a gambler that is slowly ruining his life.

But knowing this won't really in any way prepare you for what you're going to read. The comic combines strong expressions of many of the prevailing trends in comics - it gives a haunting and frighteningly real portrayal of the stark day-to-day mundanities and troubles, while at the same time crossing into the supernatural and surrealistic in a way that is subtle and preserves the tone of the story. It's possibly the most terrifying comic I've read since reading Charles Burns' Black Hole. Stylistically it's even pretty similar to his work, as well as the work of Daniel Clowes.

The only legitimate criticism I can levy on it is that the ending was brief, disappointing, and even predictable from the events leading up to it.

It says "Volume 1" on the side of it, but I'm not sure if there has been any more published work. Would love to read more.