Holy. Shit. I knew Neil Kleid was good, but Ninety Candles had slipped into the middle of my reading pile, and it took me a while to get to it. Now that I've read it, I regret that I didn't tear into it the second I got it. Ninety Candles is a fantastic book, one that uses an experimental form of storytelling, marries it to a heartwarming (yet not saccharine) story of a life in comics and creates a book that will actually move the reader to tears by the end. Because Kleid has been active in minicomics and the small press previously, one can't really call this graphic novel a "debut," but if I could, I would say it's the kind of debut that points the way toward an exceptionally bright future in comics for this creator.
Kleid's story takes off from the concept that James Kochalka has mastered, the notion of a comics diary. Rather than focusing on the mundane and strange of daily life, however, Kleid tells a story that uses one moment from each year of the protagonist's life to encapsulate everything that happens in that year. It's a clever storytelling choice, but one fraught with peril, because how can you really tell the story of 365 days in one panel, when most comics require 22 pages just to tell the story of a few days? The answer is that Kleid focuses in on the most important day of each year, or the day that reinforces the previous story, and I found myself surprised by how much of the protagonist's life story is told in eighty-something panels.
Ninety Candles takes the reader through the highs and lows of the protagonist's life, and it's impossible not to be caught up in both the joy and the sadness of the story. There's a lot to be said for Kleid's storytelling style here, simple illustrations with relatively sparse text that nevertheless give a real sense of each year, and the over-arcing story being told when you put those years together. One or two lines of dialogue, plus a snapshot of life, says a surprising amount about the characters.
Part of this is because Kleid is telling a story that comics fans will relate to, the story of a man whose life begins with a childhood fascination with art and becomes a lifelong fascination with comics. Kleid's story may not be autobiographical (especially since he can't see into his own future), but it's definitely based somewhat on his own experiences as a burgeoning comics creator, and it certainly reflects the stories we've heard of comics creators as they grow older in an industry that values youth the way comics does. Kleid's tale is equal parts industry expose and family history, and the way these two tales intersect is a lot of what provides the power of the book. The notion of a family legacy in comics isn't unheard of (one need only look at the Romitas or the Kuberts), but exploring it not just from an examination of the characters they worked on but how comics is a common thread that strengthens the bond between family makes Ninety Candles stand out.
Ninety Candles stands out as something special. Ninety Candles is my best of the week, but it will certainly be making an appearance in my best of the year column as well. Excellent, excellent work.
