Quite a few small-press and independently published efforts cross my desk and Randy's, and though the quality of the work varies greatly, there's usually something about each tyro, low-budget book that I appreciate or enjoy. Advice Man is quite unlike anything I've read before, though, as after reading it, I was at a complete loss to articulate what it was I actually read. There's certainly some enthusiasm behind this project, but not much in the way of a point.
The city is a busy place, full of people rushing around trying to do their jobs and live their lives. Most of them are just making things up as they go along, let's face it, and most of them wish they had a guiding presence in their lives to point them in the right directions. Well, they find it... not right in front of their faces, but 'round the corner, in the dark, dirty parts of the city one would prefer to avoid. But in that garbage-strewn world lives a homeless guy known simply as... the Advice Man.
Navarrete's greatest strength as a storyteller lies in his art. His thick-lined style is actually quite appealing for the most part. Navarrete's work reminds me a bit of Tony Moore's art on the politically incorrect Battle Pope comics from Funk-o-Tron. He handles perspective and motion quite well, and the title character design is somehow both striking and appropriately ordinary all at once. Mind you, there's a far more exaggerated tone to be found in the dialogue-less backup story, and the art isn't nearly as pleasing to the eye there. Furthermore, the art throughout is rather sparse when it comes to backgrounds.
The problem with Advice Man is that the main story, featuring the title character, is over before it can even begin. What we get here is more of a prologue than an actual story. There's no conflict to be found here, and the creator tells us little about the title character. The latter half of the book is filled with a fill-in-your-own-dialogue story about terrorists invading a shoe store, apparently, as well as some initial conceptual sketches. Mind you, I don't mind a glimpse at the creative process, and the backup story is an unusual and inventive experiment, though not an entirely enjoyable one. I realize the creator here is still honing his craft, and if this were a cheap mini-comic, I might be OK with it. But $2.95 is a lot to ask of someone just to show them some half-formed ideas.
Note: This comic book was not among this week's new releases.
