Hicksville

In Hicksville New Zealand cartoonist Dylan Horrocks has created a loving tribute to the art of the graphic novel, injected a mystery and wrapped it in an enigma.

The story has many threads, the main one being the arrival of American comics reviewer Leonard Batts in the NZ hamlet of Hicksville, where everybody is massively into comics, yet nobody wants to talk about the town’s most famous expatriate, comics giant Jack Burger. Leonard gets frustrated when he can’t make any progress on the article he wants to write about Burger, and his bafflement increases when he keeps finding scraps of a cartoon about Captain Cook and a Maori chief speculating on the nature of maps and the changing layout of the land.

Horrocks has worked in lots of show more tributes to classics of the genre, especially in a sequence set at a costume party, and he clearly is a big fan of Herge and Winsor McCay. (I have to admit that I probably missed a lot of his references).

This is a moving story and Horrocks leaves room for the reader’s imagination to fill in much of the detail, which adds to its charm. it’s also an intelligent tribute to an art form that Horrocks loves, and the place of creativity within it. show less

Leonard Batts a reporter for a comice review journal goes to Hicksville in New Zealand to do research on Dick Burger, a famous comic book writer. When he gets there he meets tons of quirky people, many of whom are very angry at Dick. Over the course of the story you learn more about the town, Dick and the people that he used to be friends with, eventually finding out just what Dick did that was so bad.

I really loved this. Watching Leonard try to figure out how to interact with the town was funny b/c he just couldn't wrap his head around everyone hating Dick in the beginning. Sam Zabel's Star strips were a great way to convey what happened between him and Dick and I really liked Moxie and Toxie. They were a great way to show what was show more going on in Sam's brain.

I loved Mrs. Hicks and her library and if I could live forever in the Lighthouse, I would b/c the idea of what resides in the Lighthouse is just AMAZING.

It just killed me (in a good way) that we never found out who drew the comic that Leonard was recieving. Although there may have been hints and I just totally missed it.

I also loved that the author's Introduction was written as a comic strip, it felt really appropriate.

Honestly I could go on and on about all the things I loved but I think that I am going to stop here. show less

Dick Burger has made millions and is one of the most powerful people in the comics industry. He's often compared to comic legends like Jack Kirby for revitalizing the industry and Stan Lee stands in awe of him. Leonard Batts, a comics biographer, begins the process of creating the definitive book on Burger. But as Batts begins his research he finds Burger has a dark secret back in his home town of Hicksville--a small remote town in New Zealand where comics legends come and the library has books found no where else in the world. Will Batts survive discovering this secret or will it drive him to the edge of destruction?

Hicksville starts off a bit slow as it takes a little bit to figure out the pacing and the interweaving of the short show more comics, but once you get into the story and action really pick up. This book is Dylan's love letter to the comics world, his way of perhaps saying that the best comics in the world...are those ones that aren't published. And that sometimes the biggest and most talked about folks in the industry...aren't the greatest. Sometimes it's the small quiet ones that change the world. In many ways the story line reminds me of some of the subtleness of Twain's short story "Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven" as Twain makes some of the same comparisons to that the greatest in a given area might be the ones that you've never heard of before.

The artwork takes a bit of getting used to, as it's not as well drawn as say Blankets or Fun Home Family Tragicomic...but it does have it's own style and grace to it, especially as he blends together the stories with the short comics--each having it's own style to set it apart. And sometimes the drawings and figures are so big that the frames themselves can't contain them and the characters take on a life of their own carrying the story with them.

If you're a fan of graphic novels or the comics industry...or even if you aren't--pick up this book and give it a read. Then read it a second or third time just to see what you missed. show less

I just happened to grab this comic with barely a glance over the blurb--unusual for me considering I'm more deliberate when purchasing comics. And what a wonderful impulse buy! This is an interesting, mysterious, meta fable into the history and industry of comics, looking into which stories are told and which aren't, with an interesting Maori influence to boot.

*******

Counting as my "written and drawn by the same person" item for the Panels Read Harder challenge.

Leonard Batts a reporter for a comice review journal goes to Hicksville in New Zealand to do research on Dick Burger, a famous comic book writer. When he gets there he meets tons of quirky people, many of whom are very angry at Dick. Over the course of the story you learn more about the town, Dick and the people that he used to be friends with, eventually finding out just what Dick did that was so bad.

I really loved this. Watching Leonard try to figure out how to interact with the town was funny b/c he just couldn't wrap his head around everyone hating Dick in the beginning. Sam Zabel's Star strips were a great way to convey what happened between him and Dick and I really liked Moxie and Toxie. They were a great way to show what was show more going on in Sam's brain.

I loved Mrs. Hicks and her library and if I could live forever in the Lighthouse, I would b/c the idea of what resides in the Lighthouse is just AMAZING.

It just killed me (in a good way) that we never found out who drew the comic that Leonard was recieving. Although there may have been hints and I just totally missed it.

I also loved that the author's Introduction was written as a comic strip, it felt really appropriate.

Honestly I could go on and on about all the things I loved but I think that I am going to stop here. show less

Leonard Batts a reporter for a comice review journal goes to Hicksville in New Zealand to do research on Dick Burger, a famous comic book writer. When he gets there he meets tons of quirky people, many of whom are very angry at Dick. Over the course of the story you learn more about the town, Dick and the people that he used to be friends with, eventually finding out just what Dick did that was so bad.

I really loved this. Watching Leonard try to figure out how to interact with the town was funny b/c he just couldn't wrap his head around everyone hating Dick in the beginning. Sam Zabel's Star strips were a great way to convey what happened between him and Dick and I really liked Moxie and Toxie. They were a great way to show what was show more going on in Sam's brain.

I loved Mrs. Hicks and her library and if I could live forever in the Lighthouse, I would b/c the idea of what resides in the Lighthouse is just AMAZING.

It just killed me (in a good way) that we never found out who drew the comic that Leonard was recieving. Although there may have been hints and I just totally missed it.

I also loved that the author's Introduction was written as a comic strip, it felt really appropriate.

Honestly I could go on and on about all the things I loved but I think that I am going to stop here. show less

Leonard Batts a reporter for a comice review journal goes to Hicksville in New Zealand to do research on Dick Burger, a famous comic book writer. When he gets there he meets tons of quirky people, many of whom are very angry at Dick. Over the course of the story you learn more about the town, Dick and the people that he used to be friends with, eventually finding out just what Dick did that was so bad.

I really loved this. Watching Leonard try to figure out how to interact with the town was funny b/c he just couldn't wrap his head around everyone hating Dick in the beginning. Sam Zabel's Star strips were a great way to convey what happened between him and Dick and I really liked Moxie and Toxie. They were a great way to show what was show more going on in Sam's brain.

I loved Mrs. Hicks and her library and if I could live forever in the Lighthouse, I would b/c the idea of what resides in the Lighthouse is just AMAZING.

It just killed me (in a good way) that we never found out who drew the comic that Leonard was recieving. Although there may have been hints and I just totally missed it.

I also loved that the author's Introduction was written as a comic strip, it felt really appropriate.

Honestly I could go on and on about all the things I loved but I think that I am going to stop here. show less