Re-Read - Big Boy by Charlotte Dumortier (NSFW)

This week while sorting my comics I came across BigBoy by Charlotte Dumortier and thought that this book would be perfect for my re-read of the week. I found Charlotte’s work while looking for 24 hour comics online and was immediately hooked on her work. Once I found out a copy of her 24 hour comic Big Boy was available for purchase, I had to order it immediately.

The story of Big Boy involves a couple and their creation during one hot and heavy sex session, a large sperm. Now a story about the previously mentioned sex and sperm could be handled in a very pornographic (maybe even gross) way , but not here. Charlotte’s art style and storytelling made me feel as if I was reading a funny animal comic that just happened to have sex and sperm in it, rather than a hentai book. It was fun and friendly, I might even say cute at points. Not to say that it doesn’t have a couple of gross moments when you actually think about them.

Random pages from Big Boy

Charlotte draws in a very minimalistic cartoony style that invokes a lot of passion, but feels carefree. Each character has a definite personality in their line work that she uses to create them. Here storytelling reminds me of a cartoon style comic. There is a gag on almost every page and each one of those gags helps advance the story.

Some technical notes, the mini comic is in black and white. I believe Charlotte used some different color combinations of paper for the cover and interior stocks (mine was pink cover and green interior.)

I had so much fun reading this story again. I hope to check out more of Charlotte Dumortier’s work in the near future. 

-Denny Riccelli creates comics under the pen name ‘dennmann’ he currently publishes the webcomic Cousin Harold and some mini-comics now and then, including Jenny Spookawski Ghost Girl. He lives in Peoria, Arizona with his wife and 2 kids.

Re-Read - Darkness by Boulet

There is so much I could say about Darkness by Boulet. This story is amazing. Well at first it might not seem very amazing, but once you realize that it was created as a 24 hour comic, then it becomes amazing (although Boulet admits he actually needed 26 hours to complete it.) The detail in the art, the complexity of the story, both amazing. Okay maybe I’m going overboard here, but I really, really like this story.

Essentially it is the story of two roommates, one who remains unnamed and the other is Jonas. The story is told from the unnamed roommates point of view, to a female friend of his who also is unnamed. The story is basically about Jonas and the effects he has on people that the unnamed roommate brings around to their apartment. Jonas is described as the pure element Dark. When girls look at Jonas every thing he is doing becomes dark and mysterious. Example, in the story Jonas is seen pouring a glass of whisky, but in reality he just getting some cereal. Because of this the unnamed roommate is looking for some type of solution to this Jonas problem.

The storytelling is excellent and flows smoothly from one page to the next. Usually 24 hour comics have several hick-ups or places where you can see that the artist was thinking or not sure where to go. Every point in Darkness looks predetermined and thought out.

Boulet has a very free art style, which almost looks sketchy, yet there is so much there. The art throughout Darkness jumps off the page, and leads the reader smoothly through the story. Plus there are backgrounds in almost every panel, not just the establishing shots. In one panel Boulet drew a whole living room full of items, including a massive bookshelf, which is re-drawn in several panels throughout the story.

It you want to see the potential of a 24 hour comic, Darkness is it.

Darkness it available to read for free on Boulet’s webcomic Bouletcorp and was originally only available in French. Boulet has been translating his webcomics into English and I believe has now caught up and is releasing both French and English versions together. Darkness is also available through AdHouse, but had to be retitled on the cover as Noirness (probably due to Top Cow’s comic Darkness.) It’s a great read in either form.

-Denny Riccelli creates comics under the pen name ‘dennmann’ he currently publishes the webcomic Cousin Harold and some mini-comics now and then, including Jenny Spookawski Ghost Girl. He lives in Peoria, Arizona with his wife and two kids.