Strugglers: a graphic novel [Paperback]

Tim Fish (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 8, 2006

Tighe, the confused boy, struggles to find himself. Tracey, the girl with too much ambition, struggles to make it big. Alison, the girl with no ambition, struggles to ignore her meddling friends. And Mike struggles to find someone to love. Sharing a hip Saint Louis apartment, these friends face only the problems we all deal with... finding jobs, boyfriends, bars, and bands. Their struggles end only as they begin to grow up. Originally presented as “Meet Me in Saint Louie” on the Modern Tales Longplay site in June 2003, this edition adds more than 20 pages of new story and art, and many extras.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Good writing, good art, good premise... seems like an easy preorder. --Randy Lander, The Fourth Rail

I've already made room for STRUGGLERS on my bookshelf. --Greg McElhatton, Ninth Art

A coming-of-age story... done in Fish’s appealing, Archie-meets-Hanna-Barbera style. --Johanna Carlson Draper, Comics Worth Reading

About the Author

Tim Fish is a writer and illustrator who has produced material for Poison Press, Edge Boston, Popimage, H&O Éditions, and Marvel Comics. Tim’s work includes the critically acclaimed romance series Cavalcade of Boys, the graphic novel Strugglers and the mini-comics anthology Something Fishy This Way Comes.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Poison Press (April 8, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976278634
• ISBN-13: 978-0976278634
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.7 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,654,580 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not a struggle at all ..., April 24, 2008

By 

Anthony R. Cardno "opinionated but polite" (Newton, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Strugglers: a graphic novel (Paperback)

Strugglers is a short but wonderful graphic novel by the very talented Tim Fish. Some of you may be familiar with Tim's more well-known series "Cavalcade of Boys;" Strugglers is a prequel of sorts to that series, but you don't have to be familiar with Cavalcade to enjoy Strugglers.

Strugglers is the story of three almost-accidental roommates in Saint Louis. It is part coming-out tale (Tighe, the truly accidental roommate, struggles with his attraction to Mike, the hot jock across the hall; it doesn't help that Mike is actively gay and interested in Tighe), part rocker-chick success story (Alison & Tracy, the long-term roommates who take Tighe in, compete to see who can be successful first, and both are dating guys in other bands when the story starts). it's all wonderfully paced, with equal attention given to the three roommates and a good amount of time spent developing the supporting characters.

Tim's art is clean and fun; there aren't any muddy, ambiguous panels, and the characters are individualized and recognizable both from page to page and from each other. Some panels are more playful than others (there are a few that show a distinct Walt Simonson influence, an odd thing to see outside of super-hero comics, but for those particular panels the style works), but every panel advances the story clearly. The author's notes at the end say that much of this is preserved from when he first created the story several years ago, and so there is the occasional sense that some pages are more polished than others the roughness of some pages adds to the charm, and I agree with Tim's decision not go to back and redraw the entire story for this edition.

I definitely recommend Strugglers. It's a good straight-forward novella with interesting characters and a real flow and dynamic to it.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A little gem, April 23, 2007

By 

Ventura Angelo (Brescia, Lombardia Italy) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Strugglers: a graphic novel (Paperback)

This graphic novel is exquisite, featuring the life and struggles to grow in to adulthood of three young roommates: Alyson,AKA Midge,who has no ambitions, Tracey the indie rocker full of ambition amd tyghe, sexually undecided upwardly mobile yuppie. Their story is narrated with realisric, wry humour,somewhat melancholic, somewhat ndearing, wit Tim Fish's unique graphic style. A must have for the graphic novel reader!