Sunday, April 12, 2009

Funny Misshapen Body

Last week, Jeffrey Brown's new graphic novel, Funny Misshapen Body, arrived at comic stores last week that don't just stock super hero titles. Brown is known in alternative comic circles for his Top Shelf books, Clumsy, Unlikey, Bighead, and Sulk, amongst others. His Funny Misshapen Body is his longest graphic novel to date (310 pages), and his most autobiographical.

Jeffrey Brown's art is of the scratchy, raw, primal variety, which is a style that goes well with his simple (and I don't mean that in any derogatory way), honest life vignettes. Funny Misshapen Body is about Brown's childhood battle with Crohn's disease, the various odd jobs he's had (such as working at a wooden shoe factory) before be became a full time graphic novelist, and finding his artistic voice during his school years and in his comic work. Jeffrey Brown is still a fairly young cartoonist and as good as his comic work is presently, I think he's really going to be a cartoonist to watch out for in the future, I'd say on the caliber of Daniel Clowes and Chris Ware (the latter artist he's met and Ware has offered encouragement and fondness of Brown's work).

No comments: