We've all done things we're ashamed of, and every one of us is defined at least to some extent by our past. Most of us probably aren't revisited by figments of our imagination from a fictional hole, but that storytelling device is about the only thing that separates Hello, Again from any given slice-of-life story about how the past intersects with the present and how guilt can drive people even if they're not fully aware of it. Estes has a nice, low key approach in Hello, Again, slowly unspooling William's current life and the past events that drove him to it, so that there's never really an "aha!" moment but there are several moments that click with the reader as another piece of the puzzle falls into place. Hello, Again is sort of a mystery, but its not a noir thriller or a murder whodunit, instead it's an examination of that mystery that we all share, the mystery of the human condition.
William, the lead character of Hello, Again, is one of those quiet, unassuming characters you'd see in any number of independent comics. His job, an apartment building manager, is fairly dull and not a great source of drama, and in fact the greatest drama in his life seems to be that he's sleeping with his best friend's fiance. However, William is a character who is quite real, as his more interesting and dramatic motivations are hidden beneath the surface, just like all of it. William didn't have a transformative (or cheaply melodramatic) event like child molestation or abuse, but he did have a childhood prank that turned into a source of guilt and a relationship to his parents that is more complicated than most. In other words, he's not perfect, but he's not damaged goods either, he's just a guy slightly off his path.
Enter Oliver, William's childhood past come back to haunt him, but also to serve as sort of a "Ghost of Christmas Past" type figure for him. Just as Estes establishes William as sort of a bland, everyday guy, he gives Oliver a nice, quirky, wise old man vibe. Oliver is a figment of William's imagination, but that's not really the way he's played here, he instead comes off as a different personality, one with more age and distance from some of the issues William is dealing with. Their relationship, which has some funny moments (Oliver's amusement at the coffee shop girl's reaction to William cracked me up), is a pretty solid mentor-student with built-in antagonism and resentment, and it makes for a pretty solid backbone to the story.
However, the real story isn't about this obvious relationship between a man and his manifested personal demons, but about how those demons play out in his day-to-day life. The relationship between William, Aaron and Delia is tragic on a subtle level, because none of them are really going to get what they want and all of them (or at least two of the three) are going to wind up deeply hurt as a result. The trouble with William's parents is a loud, sudden event, but all too believable and real, and plays out with the same subtlety as the rest of the book. Hello, Again is a snapshot of a life at a crossroads, rather than an exhaustive look at the life of William and his supporting cast ala something like Box Office Poison. We don't find out if everyone lives happily ever after, we don't see the consequences of every action, we only see how it affects this part of William's life, which somehow also winds up satisfying, if only because Estes does leave things off on a bit of a hopeful, conclusive note.
Estes's art style is a minimalist approach, reminiscent of Andi Watson or of one of Brian Ralph, whose quote adorns the back of the book. Most notable is the sort of spaghetti arms and legs that the characters possess, without any visible joints but expressing a strong mobility when necessary. Estes's style, though fairly sparse in terms of detail, perfectly captures the amusement of Oliver, the confusion and uncertainty of William and the slighly uncaring, even mean-spirited, vibe given off by Delia. Each character has a visual persona as well as one that comes through in the dialogue, and Estes conveys all of the important story information in his artwork. Hello, Again is something of a quiet, even introspective story that won't resonate with all readers, but it's a pretty interesting snapshot of some well-realized characters. 8/10
