Off Road tells the story of three friends who take a brand new jeep off-roading, and, in a twist that everyone but the characters can see coming, find themselves stuck. Sounds simple, but Off Road is about so much more than a comedic misadventure, it's about how guys relate to each other, and it's about how each of these characters is stuck in a behavior pattern that they need to change in order to move forward. Not unlike the problem they're facing with their jeep. It all sounds kind of meta and philosophical when you put it that way, but really, Murphy is just telling a very relatable story of close friends on an important, memorable day, a story that is full of plenty of humor to go along with the drama and higher meaning. And the artwork is terrific, reminiscent of Tony Moore's work with a little bit more cartoony attitude that is a perfect match for the story.
Murphy is a great artist. Let's get that out of the way right now. His work has elements that remind me of everyone from Sam Kieth to Tony Moore to The Gorillaz' Jamie Hewlett. His characters are wonderfully expressive, whether in the dour face that Trent wears throughout much of the story or the almost primitive delight that the friends take when they get off-road or the expression of clueless superiority that Trent's ex-girlfriend and her new beau wear constantly. His details, whether it's the nature that both astounds and confounds the characters or the picture-perfect jeep and other vehicles, are immaculate. And his storytelling has a comedic timing that just crackles, whether it's in the story itself or in the strips at the tail end of the book that show Off Road's origins as a comic strip that the syndicates were too dumb to pick up. The book looks great.
However... emphasizing the art to such a degree risks underselling Murphy's other storytelling skills, and I wouldn't want to do that. Because Murphy writes the kind of characters, dialogue and situations that suck you in and have you flipping pages until you reach the end, despite the fact that you meant to stop at a chapter break and go to bed. Not that Off Road really has traditional chapter breaks, but this literally is a story that sucks you in and forces you to keep reading. I knew that when I read the first four pages, a perfect encapsulation of a break-up that gives us a strong hint as to who Trent is and what drives him, and from there, I had to know what happens next. Murphy writes a number of these scenes that just pull you in and have you thinking "Yeah? Yeah" And then what happens?"
Off Road is full of these little moments of goodness. The bombastic salesman who insists that jeeps must be driven off road. The violence and anger between Brad and his father. The transformation of three friends into jeep-drivin' cavemen riding an adrenaline rush. The bickering and petty pranks that all three indulge in when they get stuck. The awkward moments with their would-be rescuers who have past issues with one or more of the members of the group. The over-the-top crazy who finally rescues them from their situation. Off Road never lets you get bored, there's always another memorable character or memorable moment around the corner.
More than just the moments and the characters, though, Murphy tells a really solid story. This is a story of life-change for two of the three characters, but it's not one of those Lifetime movie things that gets all weepy and melodramatic. Murphy never really hammers the metaphor too hard, and he lets a lot of the changes play out in the faces of the characters and how they react to situations. There are a couple of emotional outbursts of cathartic truth-telling, but they feel absolutely genuine. The situation these characters land in and some of the characters they run across may be a bit larger-than-life, but the way that the day changes them feels absolutely true.
Murphy has been bouncing around the industry as an artist for a while now, but Off Road is, as far as I can tell, his writer/artist debut. And it's one hell of a debut effort, one of my favorite reads of the month and maybe of the year so far.
