Ah, the glorious life of the office temp. I did my time with a temp agency, thankfully only briefly, but I do know the feeling you get that you're sort of a non-person, in an office environment that seems a little weird and unreal because of your weird temporary status. Hurd and Smith capture that sense and then take it a step further, since the job that temp Envy Saint-Claire finds herself in has more weirdness than most. Temporary reads like Dilbert if it were created by Wes Anderson and Spike Jonze, and is both a serious examination of the strangeness of office life and a surreal and funny look at crazy and sane and how thin the line between the two can be at times.
I almost hate for anyone to read the review, because giving away anything about the premise of the book might hurt one of the best qualities that it had for me, that being a complete unpredictability. I knew that the story was about an office temp, but it took me some time to slowly grasp what was going on around her. The incompetent, half-caring guy at the temp agency, the mean and grouchy boss at her temporary job, the overly upbeat new coworkers, these are all things that most temp workers have seen. However, the sense of dread, the fear of the "pink slip" (which becomes an almost mystical word of danger) and the "sixth floor" gives the whole thing an unsettling, almost horror feel, and the "pranks" that Envy is beset by walk an interesting line between unsettling and funny as well.
If I had to describe the tone of Temporary in general, though, I'd describe it as "offbeat." I don't want to give away the reveal of what's really going on at Calvin C. Nelson HMO, but I will say that when it is revealed, everything falls into place nicely. The whole thing reads like an indictment of crazy office politics, where ad hoc birthday parties, meaningless trophies and insignificant tasks take on earth-shattering importance, and everyone is convinced that what they're doing on the job is more important than what's really going on in their lives. These worker bees take it to extremes, but all of their behavior is the kind of thing that can be seen in your average office, and that makes Temporary both funny and a little bit tragic.
Rick Smith has previously done artwork for Shuck, a heavy fantasy-based series, and Baraka and Black Magic in Morocco, a real-life travelogue. He blends aspects of both for his work on Temporary, and his artwork is key to why the story works as well as it does. The sharp, structured panel arrangements hint at the structured nature of the reality these workers have been forced into, while their exaggerated and unusual looks hint at the strangeness that exists within this structure, trying to burst free of it. One of the key designs for Temporary is Smith's design of Envy Saint-Claire, who carries a somewhat bored, "whatever" attitude that makes her a perfect protagonist, until her exasperation shows itself in the end.
Separately, Damon Hurd and Rick Smith have created some small press gems, such as My Uncle Jeff and Shuck. Together, they have created another one, and this is a perfect read for anyone who has done time in an office environment. 9/10
