Fairly recently, a reader wrote me to let me know that my recent Down the Line comments on BOP!, the companion to Box Office Poison, weren't really that helpful in figuring out whether or not he should try the book. My enthusiasm was clear, he said, but not what the book was about. I found this a little puzzling until I realized that I wrote my Box Office Poison reviews on different sites, and my review of the definite form, the trade paperback, during the hiatus before Fourth Rail was up and running. Thus this reprint of an old review, which many of you have probably never read before. Box Office Poison is a 600+ page magnum opus that is based fairly strongly on a "real world" style, but has exaggeration in both art and events that set it more clearly in the realm of comedic drama rather than biographical drama. It's an ensemble piece, and although some characters stand out stronger than others (notably Sherman and Ed), Robinson has a fairly expansive cast to play with, all of whom come with their own stories.
There are a lot of different aspects of life explored in this series. Sherman has a crappy dead-end job at a bookstore and a girlfriend who is alcoholic and a little wild, Ed still lives with his parents and dreams of being a cartoonist, and has severe issues with women and self-esteem in general and even Sherman's fairly stable roommates Stephen and Jane have a variety of issues revolving around commitment. That's leaving aside the exploration of comics industry ageism explored through the realistically bitter old man Irving Flavor, the self-destructive nature of Sherman's girlfriend Dorothy and just the general romantic and professional issues that we see through a variety of supporting cast members.
At the heart of the book are two big stories: Sherman's relationship with Dorothy, which we see from its seemingly storybook sweet first meeting through the fights, thoughts of cheating, break-ups and reunions and on to a bittersweet ending; and Ed's fight for Irving Flavor and the recognition and compensation he deserves for creating a beloved super-hero icon, which also happens to tie into Ed growing up both as an artist and a man. It's funny to watch the roles shift, as Sherman starts out looking like our main protagonist, but about midway through, he's becoming more bitter and closed off while Ed is starting to open up and gain confidence, and by the end, it really seems more like Ed's story.
The storytelling is really fascinating. Robinson's artwork improves pretty much from page one and continues to get better as the book goes on, and he uses a variety of different storytelling techniques. His "question" pages are a lot of fun, in which one question, sometimes meaningful but often silly and frivolous, is asked of several characters, with the answers revealing something about their personality or at least providing a good laugh. He does great bits of overlapping dialogue and thoughts, so that we can see how the speed of conversation and inner monologue really works, and the dialogue is full of failed attempts at humor, uncomfortable moments and vicious fights along with the more polished and perfected dialogue that moves the story along and develops the characters. There's a sense of reality to this book, in the events as they happen and the way the characters develop.
This is one of those series that actually worked really well in single issue form but manages to work on another level in a collected edition. Remembering all the minor characters and plot points as the story goes along is a lot easier in this collected form, and some characters who seemed to have just faded from existence or come out of nowhere in the original series flow much more smoothly in and out of the book now that the whole thing is put together like this. In addition, there's something really interesting about reading this book and knowing nothing about Sherman, Ed, Dorothy, Jane and Stephen and then closing it and knowing everything about them and the last couple years of their lives.
Box Office Poison is easily one of my favorite stories in comics from recent years. I have all of the original issues, but I still put the money down for this collected edition just to have something I could easily pull off the shelf and reread from time to time. It's funny, sad, heartwarming and incredibly real by turns, and it should really be on your bookshelf as well.
