GRAEME: I also didn’t read the first volume, and like Mike, I’m going to make sure to fix that now that I’ve read this one. Also like Mike – apparently my refrain this week – I found it hard to get going, because of the abruptness with which this starts, even with the “This is what you missed” recap and character intro at the start. But even as I struggled to work out the relationships and characters, the art really kept me involved. I’ve never really thought about Tyler as an artist whose work I’ve loved before, so much as a writer who also draws, if that makes sense, but her work here is exactly right, weirdly reminiscent of Posey Simmons in places. It also reminds me of Craig Thompson’s work at times, too, but a less self-obsessed Thompson. Or am I alone in that?
DOUGLAS: Interesting. For me, Tyler’s artwork is where her stories “live” (look at how much of the artwork here is symbolic or somehow decorative rather than strictly representational!), and the text kind of fills in the details of fact. I see some resemblances to Thompson, now that you mention it (although it’s worth mentioning that Tyler started publishing comics in 1987, 12 years before Thompson…)–but I also think a lot of both of their artwork’s DNA comes from Justin Green. (Who, if it wasn’t quite made clear by this volume, is “Jud,” the husband who’s run off and left her and their daughter.)
GRAEME: The more I think about it, I may mean that Tyler’s visuals have never seemed particularly attractive or arresting to me before – or, at least, not as much as they do here (although I’d be lying if I said she was a creator I’d been paying a lot of attention to). One of the things I love about what she does here is letting the visuals change to adapt to what the narrative needs of them, which is definitely the hallmark of an artist confident enough in their own talents, but also one who understands the importance of the visuals, something that I don’t think I’d given her nearly enough credit for in the past.
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EVAN: You know, that art struck me oddly too. I came down on deciding that I don’t love Tyler’s figurework, but have to recognize that she CAN draw. Her art reminds me, weirdly enough, of Lynda Barry by way of Posy Simmonds. The thing I do love about You’ll Never Know is the lyricism in the artwork. I totally agree with Douglas, that the text is just there to help you keep up.
Storywise, there’s almost too much pathos here. Like Graeme and Doug, I was catching up too. And man, there was a lot of drama in those first few pages. But, as you get into it, it’s clear that it’s not so much her dad’s story as it is Tyler’s vision of her dad’s story. Bubbling behind every panel is the presence of a lot of research, yet Tyler doesn’t hit you over the head with it.
That fireworks sequence really hit me hard. Maybe it was her use of darkness or the way the explosions kind of thematically led into her dad’s scrapbook, but that tenderness did make me choke up.
DOUGLAS: And on we go to the other end of the comics store: Action Comics # 893. Hey, Superman actually shows up! (In a non-speaking role, in a flashback, from behind, for one panel, in the backup story.) Somebody alert JMS!
I’m really fond of what Cornell’s been doing on this series: for a comic that’s been effectively kneecapped by having its star of 70 years’ standing kicked out for the last couple of years, this is one heck of an entertaining series right now. If I’m not mistaken, the idea of Grodd gaining people’s knowledge by eating their brains, planarian worm/Swamp Thing-style, is not something we’ve ever seen before in comics in which he’s appeared, but what the hell, he’s a super-strong psychic talking gorilla, I’m willing to buy it. Especially because the story involves Grodd’s “biggest combat spoon.” I also love the idea that the next issue will apparently involve Lex negotiating directly with Death. And I’m starting to suspect that the whole story is Lex’s self-aggrandizing fantasy version of something we’re not seeing, too.
MIKE: I think I’ve said something along these lines before in The Club, but writing for characters that are geniuses (let alone 12th level intellects) is a slippery slope. This was a fight between two genius-level characters (Grodd’s a genius in addition to being super-strong and psychic, right?) and it never felt like one. It came down to a ruse, and while it was certainly a fun ride, it never felt like Luthor at the wheel. I guess the fun ride part is all that matters. You’re right, Douglas, it’s a giant talking gorilla.
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I just really want to identify with Lex. During Blackest Night, when he got his power ring and he finally admitted that he wanted to be Superman, he became my favorite character in the DC Universe. Here was a guy acting on such an instinctually human level. Who doesn’t want the power of flight? I hope he finds what he’s looking for. As it is, he’s become more Wile E. Coyote than evil genius.