Customer Reviews

I Can't Tell You Anything: And Other Stories

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I really enjoyed this evocatively titled 1993 comic compilation from Michael Dougan, a cartoonist whose work I read throughout the late 80's and into the mid-90's in anthologies such as Weirdo and Drawn and Quarterly. Dougan specialized in a sort of southern gothic slice-of-life true tale, where everyday life in the sultry climes of East Texas might spin out into boiled-over rage, insanity or bloodletting at the slightest provocation. In addition to Dougan's alter ego, the cast of characters features a wonderfully grotesque crew, ranging from random off the street nut-jobs ("Black Cherry") to creepy entrepreneurs on the make ("Opportunity Jones") to a group of children who practice a strange ritual ("Horror in the Henhouse"). The art is wonderful - especially loved his fanciful, swirly drawings of 80's-style big hair in tales like "Where the Boys Are" - and the storytelling is fascinating. My one criticism is that Dougan often built a good head of steam in his longer pieces such as "Opportunity Jones," only to end somewhat flatly, lacking a certain grace note or sense of closure fully satisfying to the reader. But I strongly recommend this to any fan of 90's style alt/art comics and lament the artist's seeming disappearance from the scene in recent years. Where are you, Michael Dougan? Come back to the five and dime, Michael Dougan, Michael Dougan.