Steve MacIsaac, Justin Hall, Ilya, and Fuzzbelly
Drawn, Out Press
$10.95 (#3) $12.95 (#4)

Review by Joe Palmer

For You O Democracy

Come, I will make the continent indissoluble,
I will make the most splendid race the sun ever shone upon,
I will make divine magnetic lands,
With the love of comrades,
With the life-long love of comrades.

I will plant companionship thick as trees along all the rivers of America,
and along the shores of the great lakes, and all over the prairies,
I will make inseparable cities with their arms about each other’s necks,
By the love of comrades,
By the manly love of comrades.

For you these from me, O Democracy, to serve you ma femme!
For you, for you I am trilling these songs.

Walt Whitman
(1819-1892)

Approximately 150 years ago Walt Whitman strove to envision an America radically different from the oppressive society of his times. Whitman dreamt of a radically different nation in which his sex positive manifesto,  of lover after lover, is a reality “in every city of these States, inland and seaboard/…The institution of the dear love of comrades.” A little over a hundred years later Whitman’s dream perhaps came closest to actualization with regard to the unbound sex and love in the period following Stonewall. What the poet, with his particular ideal of manhood, would think of contemporary gay society and the greater queer community, our social status shifting over time and geography, and larger goals such as marriage equality is fodder for much speculation though I am certain he would be alternatively amazed and confused by gay society and angered by the doggedness of fear and persecution.

Steve MacIsaac may not be Walt Whitman (those would indeed be big shoes to fill) but a flair for delving into the gay male psyche makes MacIsaac one of the more exceptional creators in gay comics today. Why bring Witman into my review at all? For contrast I suppose. Whitman dreamt of what could be the ideal place for gay men in America while MacIsaac deals charts the everyday realities of gay identity. My first reading of “Unpacking” was a few weeks ago, and the characters and topics greatly impressed themselves on my mind. The juxtaposition of MacIsaac and Whitman and his ideas felt natural to me when accounts of the poet appeared in a book I’m reading on identity in the American West.

“This is not an instruction manual” is the inscription Steve MacIsaac wrote on the inside front cover to the copy of Shirtlifter #3 that I ordered along with #4 in anticipation of its publication. MacIsaac’s story, spanning these two issues and into the next, is definitely not instructional. “Unpacking” follows Matt after a cross country move from Toronto to Vancouver in the wake of a disintegrated eight year relationship with Michel. He has a job that he likes, a circle of friends dating back a number of years, and the looks that guarantee him the attention of men he wants and some he doesn’t. For all intents and purposes Matt appears to have begun settling nicely into his new life, but only just so on the surface. Beyond this, and to the chagrin of his closest friends, the partnered Kris and Chris, who take great pride in recounting highlights of their semi-domesticated life via an 8 month long home rehab (“Homo Depot is so sending us flowers on our anniversary!”), Matt has done anything but unpack boxes of personal belongings because “it’s all crap [he's] not using.” Anyone can tell you the process of moving is quite revelatory when one starts to examine sundry items. The boxed up items may be useless, yet he’s drug them along rather than let go. So they remain full while Matt seeks distractions outside of work and socializing with friends. In Matt’s case, these distractions are hookups with men. Big, stocky, bear men and the sex scenes are MacIsaac-style incendiary. Well, save a single instance, with which a fair few readers will likely be able to relate. Heaven knows one just surfaced in my head that I’d rather hadn’t. The metaphor of unpacked moving boxes may be an obvious one, and in the hands of a less skillful writer this would be an otherwise dull story punctuated double exclamantion mark style with steamy sex where reader focus would understandably gravitate.

That's Connor taking the intiative

Where Whitman delighted in writing affirmations of his attraction to and encounters with men and envisioning a society in which the “love of comrades”  is a celebrated part of its fabric, MacIsaac focuses on the nuances of his characters’ interior lives while their exterior world is in a state of flux. Matt is very determined to continue a series of NSA hookups rather than to look for a relationship until he meets Connor, who’s in Vancouver on an extended business trip. Both men find the sex so intense  their first time together that they decide to continue to play together; this despite, for Matt, Connor’s shocking confession of being straight and happily married to a woman. As the two men try to bond in other ways things get messy. Assumptions and attitudes are exposed and tempers flare as the men attempt negotiating their unconventional relationship. The tension spills over to Matt’s friendship with the two Chrises. These emotionally dynamic clashes is where MacIsaac is having the most fun examining the notions of how we identify ourselves. If being gay is defined simply as having sex with a person of the same sex then Connor must be gay and in denial, or is he bisexual? Yet he refuses to be labeled. And is it wrong to be defined by a sex act? Heterosexuals certainly define themselves by co-opting procreation. On the macro level how is the driving force toward marriage equality changing gays and lesbians individually and culturally? Is the the best route for full civil rights when gays have been denied any positive social roles at all in our society? And implicitly, how do changes (and our desire for them) affect bisexuals and the trans community? MacIsaac prefers to play the provocateur in his storytelling by avoiding answers.

The art is on equal par with the writing. The men MacIsaac draws are big, muscular, and hairy. The same type of man that Whitman described as “blood and brawn”. They may be idealized bears, but they look and act real and their settings are likewise beleivable. His ability to convey subtleties in facial expression and body language reinforces character and dialog credibility. Thought bubbles are part to good use in one scene to show Matt’s interior fantasies. Color in issue #3 is limited to cool greys. A suitably refined color palette provides finishing touches in issue #4.

In the latter issue MacIsaac discusses his creative process. Foregoing the option of working from a full script, MacIsaac creates drafts while keeping key visuals from the project’s inception in mind as touchstones for the characters. From there he’ll edit out panels or even full pages and sketching out any revisions. This loose method gives him the freedom to explore areas piquing his interest. This process is harder he says. No doubt, though my assessment of these chapters after back to back reading is one of a seamless and unflawed story. Artists are rarely entirely satisfied with their work. As proof that he shares this artistic temperament, MacIsaac quotes lesser known 20th century painter Arshile Gorky: “I never finish a painting – I just stop working on it for a while.” A pleasantly surprising reference for me since I’ve come across few people outside of the academic art world who know of the Armenian born painter. Not to worry. Staying true to his critical eye means we’re rewarded with a story that is anything but pretentious.

Three stories by other artists are included in the anthology format. Fuzzbelly offers a story in issue #3 and Ilya follows suit in the following. One chapter of Justin Hall’s “The Liar” appears in  both. The addition of other cartoonists was my excuse for not ordering the third installment of Shirtlifter. It was a simple matter of me being selfish in wanting all MacIsaac. I still do, but circumstances dictated a different approach and I found myself being entertained by Fuzzbelly and Ilya, both whose work was unfamiliar to me. Both short stories provided very pleasant introductions to people whom I should’ve known.

Fuzzbelly’s “F Buds” relates his artistic block with a project. He decides a diversion with his stubby cocked f bud is just what he needs to get past the block. It’s a simply told story in which he conveys a sense of frustration with erotic stereotypes, intimacy, fun, and human vanity. The art style is loose and curvy. If you like your men big bellied and bearded you’ll enjoy the story even more. View some of Fuzzbelly’s work at his blog.

Ilya’s “Dick” is a strip that appeared in the British gay weekly Boyz ten years ago. A collection of seven strips titled “The Dinner Party” appear here. Mild mannered librarian Colin is having an intimate dinner party for friend Ivan, a hunky silver fox, and a hot young boy. It’s fun to watch Colin become increasingly exasperated as sparks fly between Ivan and the young stud. There is a happy ending though not quite the “happy ending” Ivan hoped. It’s better! MacIsaac writes that Ilya and he are discussing a collection of the strips tentatively for 2012 and based on this short piece it will be something to which I’ll look forward to reading.

A brief bio of Ilya may be read here.

The remaining contribution comes from Justin Hall. “The Liar” appears in both issues and I believe will conclude with the next issue. Barry, a hunsband and father of two, is driving alone on a trip to the Grand Canyon when he picks up a young hitchhiker named Ariel who’s headed for San Francisco. Ariel impresses Barry with his aura of freedom and stories while Ariel has his eyes on Barry’s big package. Barry’s  life has become so settled and boring that a kiss and a blow job is all it takes for him to start lusting for the enigmatic stranger. Whatever Ariel symbolizes for Barry, it isn’t who and what he is. Hall clues us in that Ariel has used others, men and women, before. The reader can rightly assume the title refers to Ariel, but Hall doesn’t stop there with his examination. Barry confesses his secrets and lies to his wife to buy more time away as he allows himself to become undone. I’ve enjoyed Hall’s work since his “A Sacred Text” from 2001. Halls uses the serialized, longer format story to his advantage and had me wanting more with each chapter’s conclusion. It looks like I’ll have to patiently wait to find out what happens to Barry and Ariel. Visit Justin at All Thumbs Press.

Visit MacIsaac’s website for previews and to buy the comics or purchase them from Amazon.

Fearful Hunter #2
Jon Macy
$12
www.jonmacy.com

“I Will Have the Taste of Him”

In which gods take a young deer, who is, in turn, the beloved of a young wolf, and the question and nature of sex as magick is explored.

You may recall Jon Macy’s last work, Teleny and Camille, in which Macy focused on a furtive love affair whose nature both offended and defied the genteel and unyielding upper class of Victorian England. In Fearful Hunter, Macy moves from the dichotomy of the well bred gentry and endemic squalor of the working and under classes to a countryside where the sacred and profane merge and the sublime manifests.

Fearful Hunter is a work intended in four parts. The current installment, issue two, is the subject of this review.To recap the first chapter, Oison is a young man whose parents surrendered him as a young boy to Tavius, a Druid who has foresworn the modern world to live in and as a part of a nearby forest. Tavius believes Oison is gifted and has been training him in secret rituals and eventually communion with a nature god. Fate intervenes during a trip for supplies to the nearby town when Oison learns of a pub catering  to gay men of a different…bent. Shea, a were fox, encourages Oison to act on his impulses for the reluctant lycanthrope Byron. Tavius is both secretly displeased by Oison’s choice and covetous of Byron.

With introductions made in the first issue, the attention turns to exploring the various relationships and the nature of individual characters. Will  Oison remain in obeisance to his mentor Tavius to pass from his apprenticeship to attain the next level or will he realize his nature encompasses more and become steadfast in his love for a wolf?  Will Byron succumb to his animal nature  as a result of Tavius’ subtle manipulation (“You wouldn’t mind me watching you transform, would you?” and “I would love to see him kill sometime. I’m sure he is magnificent.”) or will he rise above his insecurities to forge a lasting bond with Oison? Can the jealous nature of a wolf who mates for life be overcome when his beloved ritually communes in sexual ecstasy with a god as an act of devotion? Does “It’s not really sex. It just takes that form” ring true? Or will Byron conquer his fear and protect Oison from possible harm?  Will the god Diultach be sated with a single taste of Oison and, as I suspect the name implies, become dismissive of his promised acolyte? Is Shea motivated by wily instincts conversing with Byron about love and passion or is be being sincere? Judging by the scope of Macy’s vision in Teleny and Camille actions and consequences coming out of these relationships will not be neat and tidy nor forumlaic; they will be brilliant and memorable.

No one sparkles in Macy’s imagination as put to paper here. They rut and mount and possess and howl and revel, then collapse from abandon. Macy is quite clever in drawing arresting erotic encounters and characters.Oison’s and Byron’s newly found love pulses with an energy that is simultaneously urgent and naive. Oison with his smooth body marked with Druidic symbols and innocent appearance is a study in contrast to Byron’s lithe and furry form and soulful eyes. The elder Druid Eanruig, likely I think to have been Tavius’ mentor, is a silver fox with flowing hair and beard. Tavius himself is a bull of a man. Shea the were-fox is wiry and playful as revealed in the short fillip we’re treated to recounting the time he nicked a farmer’s shorts.

Several years ago a friend, an art professor, and I had a conversation about artists creating a sense of of place. She knew of my interest in comics and asked to borrow any apropos graphic novels which she’d used as reference for a class lecture. It’s a harder task to accomplish than one might think as it involves more than simply drawing a character surrounded by four walls to give a character a sense of life and belonging to the space. One can find reference material to draw a London opera house but it will take insight to make it believable. Likewise Macy’s primary setting of a forest in Hunter. Quite another matter to transform forest and river and rock into a living temple of warm earth, still water, and trees versed in a secret tongue in which Druids, gods, and were-men co-exist, if some uneasily at that.

A dream interlude reveals Byron’s true name and the event from his childhood that inspired it. The circumstances serve to illuminate Byron’s temperament and his struggle as an outsider in his own community. Will there be  more to learn about how Oison came to be Tavius’ pupil? What sort of dire conditions arose to persuade parents to relinquish a child? Imagining the twists Macy could invent further piques my interest. Macy has shown Tavius to be flawed with the first issue’s revelation for Oison that Tavius withheld knowledge of the local gay pub and with Tavius’ unspoken desire for Byron. These indiscretions bear the question of whether Tavius truly follows the Druidic codes of honor to do right regardless of cost, of loyalty to friends and family, and hospitality.

Teleny and Camille was wildly impressive and Fearful Hunter is an equally excellent venture from the talented Macy. During the wait for the next installment the dilemma for me is having an incomplete run of Macy’s Nefarismo to enjoy and chart an artist’s progress.

Would you like to be further tempted visually? Visit Macy’s site and feast on art and video? Yes, of course you would.

Rainy Day Recess – The Complete Steven’s Comics
David Kelly
$19.99
Northwest Press

Hi. My name is Joe. I’m pretty shy around kids and big people. I don’t have a lot of friends. I have secrets. It’s kinda hard because my family moved around a lot and I always feel like I’m the new kid the other kids pick on. It doesn’t seem fair to me, but teachers don’t see it. I sorta told you a fib about my name. Joe is what my name is now, but my real name — well, a couple months ago when I started the second to last new school I told my mom I wanted to called Joe. My real name is Jody and that’s why a lot of kids picked on me. They said it was a girl’s name and called me a girl. It happened at the other schools too. Teachers didn’t care. All they care about is grades and being quiet. I get good grades and can be really quiet.

Please don’t make fun of me because of my name. Or other stuff either.

I like to draw and make model cars and watch TV and sometimes try to sing along to fun songs. Sometimes dance but only if nobody’s watching me. I really like comic books because of the superheroes and all the things they can do! My favorite comic has the Legion of Super Heroes. What’s Legion really mean? I really like Element Lad and Ultra Boy. Sometimes when my mom is mad at my dad — they yell too much — because he drinks I pretend to be in the future with the Legion.

I found a new comic and I hide it for now because my dad would probably take it away. It’s not like Legion or Justice League or Avengers but I like it because it’s about a boy. His name is Steven. He has blond hair and three brothers and a sister. Maybe he’s my age. His mom works and works like mine does and she gets tired too. Steven likes Wonder Woman and has her action figure. I don’t like Wonder Woman so much, but that’s okay. Now I know I’m not the only boy that played with dolls. I feel better about playing Barbies with this girl in first grade. Her name was Janice. Really, I played with Ken, but I pretended it was Captain Action. When Steven’s brother called him a sissy for playing with Wonder Woman I got sad and a little mad. That word is bad but I don’t really understand it. My grandma said it one day to my mom. I was standing right there when she told my mom something about cutting up apron strings or maybe I’ll turn into a sissy. It makes Steven sad too. But Steven is happy a lot too even if his family is messed up.

Steven made friends with a new boy in his class. His name is Christopher and Steven really likes him. Christopher likes Steven. I think they are super special friends and maybe they like each other the same way boys like girls. It’s a secret so you can’t tell anybody! Is that what a sissy is? when a boy likes a boy? But sissy is a mean word and Steven and Christopher aren’t mean boys. Neither am I. And my grandma said sissy to my mom — and — and — you have to promise to keep a secret! Promise! I think I like boys too. I don’t have a friend like Christopher but sometimes I feel funny watching the actors on TV shows. I’m a good boy too even if I got in trouble for something in the shed I don’t want to tell you. I want to kiss a boy and maybe dance with one like Steven does with Christopher. Just maybe dance to a different song. We Are Family is okay but I like this song called Everyday People better. Or maybe Thank You. The singers’ names are Sly and the Family Stone. My dad acts weird if he hears the song so I don’t play it loud. He doesn’t like black people.

Steven’s dad isn’t a nice person either. His parents get divorced like my mom almost did. I wanted her to but she got scared and stopped. After a while he has to move to his grandma’s and go to a new school. It got scary for him but his grandma helps him fell better and they have fun together. She’s really nice like my grandma even if she did say sissy. Being at a new school means Steven doesn’t see Christopher anymore. It’s sad and he has trouble making new friends. I know how that makes me feel so I wish Steven could be my friend. Maybe then we could talk about boys because I don’t think telling a real life friend I like boys would be a smart idea.

Steven has to eat fried baloney sandwiches too. Fried baloney on mushy bread is okay sometimes. Nobody wants to trade sandwiches with you at lunchtime. Steven is nice because he made friends with a boy named Kit Reece who gets picked on even more than he does. Some kids are just bullies and will pick on you. It won’t matter if you have a girl’s name. Steven likes Kit but not the same way he likes Christopher. And Steven takes swim lessons and starts to like an older boy named Troy kinda the way he likes Christopher. I think Troy was just being nice when the other older kids and Mr. Terwilliger were being really mean. It’s good because they’re friends too. Sometimes older kids and adults are nice and they make you feel good and special and okay. That’s why I like Steven. I know he’s only a make believe kid in a book made up by somebody named David Kelly. He’s probably a big person too because adults don’t let kids make comics unless you draw it yourself. Steven makes me feel good because now I know it’s okay if a boy likes another boy! Oh! But if an adult made up Steven does that mean some adults think it’s okay for grownups too? Oh my gosh! Maybe when I grow up I can find another grownup boy and we can kiss and dance! Maybe he’ll read Steven’s comicbook stories and find out it gets better.

Do you want to take a peek?

Sly and the Family Stone’s Everyday People