One day, Chiaroscuro is going to make a kickass graphic novel that will probably win awards. Until then, readers of Chiaroscuro must have an almost unimaginable patience... but that patience is rewarded with something very different than everything else out there, a strange blend of slice-of-life and conspiracy with gorgeous black and white artwork. The installments of Chiaroscuro are maddeningly short considering the wait between issues, but each issue seems worth the wait, and read all together you can see the shape of something special forming.
I'm reminded of Box Office Poison and the online strip Something Positive with Chiaroscuro, in that the protagonist is not necessarily the most heroic or even likable person in the world. However, while Steven Patch may be short-tempered and anti-social, he is without a doubt interesting to read about. Little does a great job of getting the reader inside Patch's head, so that while we might not appreciate his casual cruelty to a waitress or his lack of appreciation for his friend, we can at least understand where his frustration with life in general is coming from.
Depending on which issue of the book you read, you might get a very different impression of what the story is about. Issues two, three (and most of one) deal largely with everyday problems and decisions. Patch is getting someone else's mail, or has an encounter with a young woman that leaves him unhappy, or runs into an art school acquaintance that he can't stand. However, the misguided mail seems to indicate something more sinister, and the fourth issue consists of an unusual encounter between Patch and some shadowy characters, who not only interrogate him but take the time to critique his personal life in harsh detail.
Chiaroscuro has a somewhat dark outlook, as Patch can't even be happy when he spends time with a beautiful woman or gets an opportunity to ply his artistic trade. Little seems to be making the point that Patch's problems are largely of his own making, and I suspect that the overall arc will involve a question of whether or not he can overcome them. The interaction between Patch and the people he meets, whether it's incidental characters like the art school acquaintance or the waitress or more major characters like his friend, is very real and believable, and that's the driving force behind Chiaroscuro as I see it.
I'm also very impressed with the artwork on this book. Little's panel arrangements are unusual, making great use of white and black space and always changing. However, despite the creative panel arrangements, the storytelling is clear and strong. Little's style is hard to categorize, but it has similarities to the work of Alex Robinson, Jim Mahfood and Terry Moore in some places, with a very deft use of shadow.
