Darth JayDer Comics

Taken from the Ain’t It Cool News site. Thank you Mark, for the wonder review!

LOST TPB
Darth JayDer Comics

An indie staple is the slice-of-life comic, where there’s nary a zombie or a super cape or a vampire or a time stream disruption. Some folks hate these comics and I have to admit they are an acquired taste. Personally, I read comics for the escapism. Reading about another schlub’s money/girl/life problems hit a bit too close to home, if you know what I mean. So when I realized that’s exactly what LOST was, I was half tempted not to give it a look. But I’m damn glad I did. Yes, LOST is a hit TV show that’s about to come to an end this season, but no, that’s not what this book is about. LOST is about a normal guy name Chazz, slacker extraordinaire. He’s got a dead end job, aspirations to be a writer, and no chick in his life. Now in a sci fi or super hero comic, it’s at this point in the “hero’s” life that something extraordinary occurs, usually in the form of a radioactive spider or a meteorite or a lab experiment gone horribly, horribly wrong. But this isn’t one of those stories. In actuality, something extraordinary does in fact happen…Chazz gets a girlfriend. The rest of the book pretty much goes by the old adage, “Be careful what you wish for.” Like I said, most slice of life books turn me off, but writer Derek Glascock does such a great job with the dialog in this book that it made me stick with it. Sure, the guys in this book are basically sitting around talking about absolutely nothing, but the way Glascock turns a phrase works here and it worked enough to hold this reader’s attention for the entire trade paperback. Jaysin Osterkamp does a fine job as well illustrating this book, making every character distinct and unique. His range of facial expressions and poses is vast and he draws a damn fine, curvy alterna-girl if you ask me. LOST is one of those books filled with characters that you will recognize from page one. They may not have been said or happened exactly in the same way, but I’ve lived through stuff like this. And while I often stay clear of slice-of-life books, I’m glad I didn’t do so here because after reading how effed up Chazz’s life is by the end of this book, you can’t help but feel a bit better about your own. Recommended for true indie types who hate spandex and those suffering from super hero overload.

During the Chicago Comic Con I was lucky enough to have been interviewed a few times and one of the interviews was really, really awesome. I think I think it was so awesome for one reason because Andrew and I got along so well on our film tastes. Andrew Marcec is half of the duo that is Lingo, (soon to be My Remote Radio), a geek blog about geek things. In other words, something I would listen to with great glee.

Our interview can be found here, on his website.

I was scouring the internets today (actually I just googled my name to see what would happen) and I found a review of Lost #1 over at www.FistFullOfComics. Jaysin did an interview with them at Wizard World Chicago before they even had read our book or even knew what kind of evil they were associating themselves with… mu wu ha ha ha ha HA! Anyways, they have a pretty kick ass site and they took the time to actually read Lost #1 and write up a review. Check out their site for comic-y goodness.

The following is taken from www.FistFullOfComics:

There is a new review for Lost #1 out there in the internets. The series of tubes have not let us down. The review can be found at WordSmithLind’s blog over at today.com. Make sure to go check him out. So without further hesitation, I present to you his review.

Friday, July 25th, 2008…1:20 pm

Lost in Life, Lost in comic form

In a universe long ruled by the Comics Code, Spiderman and the Incredible Hulk, in a world of big pecks, big tits, muscle hugging spandex and evil supervillains, it is amazing that Chazz, Petey and Rog can exist.  They are out of shape, normal, and rude; they drink too much, smoke too much and are slightly sexist, possibly misogynistic.  They are definitely not heroes here to save the day and most likely do not own guns.  They are your average Joes, with average (most likely below average) jobs, wrought with average problems.  They are not heroes at all.

Comic books are one of the last mediums thought of when one thinks independent, DIY and the little guy (Kevin Smith did address this topic in Chasing Amy, but with all the fisting, that part of the story kind of receded to the background).  There are always cries against major record labels and the music industry, but people rarely think of the difficulties of entering the even more exclusive arena of comic books.  I recently came across such a book, Lost, at the recommendation of a friend.  To quote him in an email, “It’s called Lost, they wrote the script back in 2001, so fuck that island and its ongoing nonsensical ramblings.”  On that note, with the added distaste for the island, I saw no harm in giving the book a look.

Anyone that has ever grown up unsatisfied in the suburbs with its malls, big box chain stores, fast food highways and lack of things to do (unless shopping counts), can relate to the opening rant of the “loathsome protagonist…nah, too harsh…that guy,” about cell-phones, houses in the suburbs, fake people, and the aspiration for a career in writing (or any job that is not a standard 9 to 5).  Lost (book 1 of 4) centers around Chazz and his longing for love.  Chazz’s friends Petey and Rog offer him all sorts of bad advice and anecdotes to try to help him on his path to love. The fact that it is a comic book helps the dialogue in that it allows for creative visuals to add originality to this tried topic.  Once again going back to the opening sequence, the fantastic artwork plays on the eyes as the word play plays on reader’s mind.  One of the more original bits of story telling I have seen.

I am not sure how to comment on the actual artwork besides saying it is very good.  I have not read a comic book in over five years, so I do not know the direction that comic art has taken since then.  On that note, the artwork is very consistent, the characters rarely, if ever, stray from their look, and the overall quality of the book is impressive.  There is plenty of diversity in the size of the cells, the “camera” angles, the jump cuts, and the use of wide angle and close up “shots.”  The similarity between directing and cinematographing a movie (the choice of shots, the use of lighting, mise-en-scène, character position etc) and developing a comic book is one of the most underappreciated aspects of the whole medium.  Unlike comic strips which carry a standard format, the comic book allows for much more creativity, thus demanding more from the artist to keep the book interesting and appealing.  This is achieved.

All in all the book is well done and worth the read.  Fans of Kevin Smith will enjoy this book with its dialogue based smart-assedness and vulgar humor, and passing readers will enjoy it as well.  There might be some reservations and calls of misogyny, but remember, it is a comic book about lost twenty-somethings, they don’t know any better.