Kevin Huizenga

Curses is a graphic novel by composed of interrelated short stories. They cover themes of family, religion, suburban landscapes, and the migration of starlings. Sound boring? It’s not! Huizenga has a unique talent for making the mundane details of life not only fascinating, but awe-inspiring and exciting. The best story in this collection is “28th Street,” in which Glenn Ganges (Huizenga’s recurring protagonist) and his wife are having trouble conceiving a child. His solution? To show more search for a feathered ogre living under Grand Rapids’ 28th Street and trick him into lifting the curse that has kept them childless. In another devastating story, Ganges and his wife are decorating a “Jeezoh” statue on an unborn child’s grave – the story takes a swift detour into the Japanese Buddhist mythology behind the statue, becoming a touching, even humorous, look at a parent’s grief. Huizenga uses the bleakness of the urban Midwestern landscape to put his flights of fancy in sharp relief – the effect is mesmerizing. This is one of my very favorite graphic novels, nearly perfect in every way. show less

I actually thought of Scott McCloud while reading this, the way the main character Glenn Ganges moves through these very interesting frames that depict abstract concepts; that may not be an accurate memory of Understanding Comics et al but it's what came to mind. The artwork is exception, so detailed, such an amazing way of communicating abstract concepts (e.g., as time shifts away from linearity, the panels start to slide around and on top of each other, at one point the page depicts a show more stack of pages from the book you're supposedly reading, kind of turned to the side, coming out of the book itself. And these strong visual ideas are everywhere. The emotional and intellectual chaos of insomnia is depicted over and over (and over!) again in a visually compelling way.

Narratively, though, the book was repetitive, and didn't go anywhere, and eventually became incredibly dense and complex, with the visual and textual information a lot to plow through with very little payoff.

There is magic and humanity on the very very last page but honestly I was ready for it to end long before then. This is the work of an enormously brilliant and creative person and yet it just didn't fully land for me. show less

Huizenga is a master. This collection, though, has a few misses. While I appreciate the amount of research that must've gone in to the story "Jeepers Jacobs," I wasn't at all interested in a character who isn't Glenn thinking about religion. I liked the art in the story "Green Tea (Glenn Ganges Remix)," but I found the actual story fairly flat. So a must-have for any Huizenga fan, but not for a first timer (go get Ganges #1 instead).

Huizenga illustrates the everyday life by spicing it up with a rich exploration of dialogues and thoughts, with an interesting mixture of traditional comics drawings, info-graphic explanations and - especially - an incredible explosion of chaotic images which is the real centre (with an amazing gatefold) of this experimental, small-format gem.