Review: glamourpuss #1

Having read the Cerebus phonebooks in their entirety, I'm already aware that Dave Sim is two parts genius and one part madman. His exquisite artwork (ably assisted by Gerhard, of course) on Cerebus was a constant even when the narrative went off the rails and into more difficult Reads. Suffice to say, you can always be sure of beautiful artwork in a Dave Sim comic, just as you can always count on a...highly unusual reading experience. Conceptually and tonally, glamourpuss couldn't be more different from Cerebus, but it is indeed a lushly illustrated, deeply strange and very much "Dave Sim" read.

My local comic store, Bargain Comics, was kind enough to let me read their copy of the Exclusive Comic Industry Preview Edition of glamourpuss #1, last week, and it is literally like nothing I've seen before. It is, in the main, a sketchbook; a working diary in narrative form. In the text, Sim is candid about his goals:

"When people ask me if I have anything planned after Cerebus, this is about all that comes to mind: Cute teenaged girls in my best Al Williamson style."

"Interesting, Dave. But what would the book be about?"

"I just told you. Cute teenaged girls in my best Al Williamson style."

"If I think of anything story-wise (which isn't likely to happen), I'll let you know."

Let that serve as the manifesto and the mission statement of glamorpuss. Sim spends his 30 pages practicing his best Al Williamson, Alex Raymond, and John Prentice* impersonations, explaining their use of delicate brushwork, how it was often lost in the crude printings the strip received, and his struggles to incorporate their styles into his own art. Mixed among that, we also get the deep, insightful, and altogether-too-fashionable ruminations of N'atashe, An origin of glamourpuss, Doctor Norm's candid, in-comic analysis of glamourpuss, and Skanko's Dating Guide, all of which are parodic looks at models, fashion, pop psychology, and other subjects that I'm equally unfamiliar with. Sim's notorious misogyny seems more-or-less in check, skewering at a target, the fashion industry in general and cold, imperious models in particular, that most can agree are equally fascinating and ludicrous.

So, recommended with an "if", or panned with a "but"? I recommend glamourpuss IF you have an appetite for well drawn pretty, impossibly fashionable girls served up with a heapng helping of art theory and a side of fashioniosta satire. Weird, but not bad.

*Sucessor to Alex Raymond on Rip Kirby after Raymond's unexpected death.