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SPARKS GN
Highly Recommended (10/10)
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Slave Labor Graphics
Writer/Artist: Lawrence Marvit
Art Assists: Ben Jones, Dan Lee, Brandon McKinney, Ricardo Barahona, Ray Morelli, Wirat Wongmien, George Chang & Andy Ristaino
Story/Lettering Assists: Christopher Williams, Marcus Smith, Matt Penna, Parker Moore, Mark and Liz Holmes, Neal Druger, Joyce Martha & Julie Bowdell
Price: $35.95 US |
You know how, when you get overhyped for a book, it can't help but let you down? I'm stunned that didn't happen to me with Sparks, since I've heard so much positive buzz; I figured there was no way that it could live up to what it had been built up to in my mind, and it honestly made me a little reluctant to read it, afraid that I'd be disappointed. Instead, I was blown away, just like everyone else, by this heart-breaking and realistic story. It bills itself as "an urban fairy tale" and that's not just high concept puffery, it truly describes the book. It has the heart of Iron Giant with a more adult sensibility, and beyond the questions of artificial life, Marvit also has plenty to say about natural life, and how we can choose to shape it. This book broke my heart more than once when I was reading it, but I couldn't put it down. Such a massive tome would seem to be aimed at multiple reading sessions, but I can't imagine anyone, having gotten past the first few pages, being able to stop until they are done.
At its center, Sparks has a very simple idea, based on just a tiny bit of fantasy. A tomboyish mechanic with what can hardly be described as an easy life builds a mechanical man on a whim, just playing around, and it comes to life through an accident of nature. The presence of Galahad the robot does not dilute the realistic elements of this series at all, however. Instead, Galahad serves largely as a physical manifestation of one of Marvit's themes of the book, that using your imagination and daring to dream is important if you want to make your life more than simply an existence. And Galahad, an artificial being, is a well realized character whose thoughts and feelings become as real and powerful as those of any human character in the book.
Marvit's characterization is simply incredible. No one gets off easy, no one gets to be pegged into the "hero" or "villain" role. While Galahad and Jo are both virtuous and kind, they each have their flaws, whether it's Galahad's potential for anger or Jo's uncertainty about herself. And while Marvit paints the people in Jo's life mostly of such a horrible variety that it's no wonder she has created a mechanical friend, each of them has a redeeming feature as well. The one night stand seems, despite his toadish ways after the event, to be a genuinely kind and intelligent individual, even as he's trying to weasel out of a relationship. The beastly father, perhaps the closest thing to an honest-to-God villain, has a powerful moment of clarity (if you can get those when you're stinking drunk) during which he gives his daughter good advice and shows concern for her welfare. You can see in that moment the man he used to be, and how disappointments have shaped him into the antagonist that he becomes. Even the bitchy socialite who is set up as Jo's social nemesis shows a softer side when Jo does something kind for her, even if it doesn't last. While these moments serve to underscore the two-faced, selfish nature of most of the humans Jo associates with, it also shows that they don't think of themselves as the villains of the piece.
Because the characters are so well-established, it really hurts when Marvit makes them suffer. And like any great writer, he torments his characters to an unbelievable degree. Marvit is not following the Hollywood rules here. Everybody doesn't get to live happily ever after, accidents can happen even to the innocent and the heroine doesn't always get away from her troubles unscathed. There's a death that happens about midway through the book that absolutely shook me as much as it did Galahad, and I defy anyone with a heart to read the closing chapters of this book without at least shedding a few tears. Marvit does all of this not by manipulating the reader into feeling something, but by building up characters, inviting us into their lives and letting us share their triumphs and tragedies equally.
In addition to fantastic writing, the book features beautiful artwork as well. Like most animators who create comics, Marvit shows an understanding of storytelling that is impressive, and his style is reminiscent of folks like Bruce Timm and J. Bone, crossed with a little bit of Andi Watson. Simplicity is king, and Marvit makes use of simple figures and lines to show off a wide range of expression and a lot of action. Galahad himself is a simple design, but when you look a little closer, you see the details, like the headlight/wheelguard that makes up his right shoulder or the battery pack that sits right where his heart should be. And the subtle transformations of Jo, from grease monkey to gorgeous girl, with a little applied makeup, is something that very few artists could pull off without making her look like a completely different character.
Marvit does not make it easy on his readers. Love and loss are the big themes here, and almost anyone will be able to relate to those emotions, perhaps even to some of the specifics. Sparks also raises questions that many of us struggle with everyday about who we want to be, and whether we're living our lives to the fullest. The accolades and award nominations for Sparks are well-earned, and it is one of those books that truly belongs on every comic-book fan's bookshelf.
This comic book was not among this week's new releases.
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