Customer Reviews

Too Cool To Be Forgotten

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Too Cool to be Forgotten" is probably Alex Robinson's finest work to date, though at a scant 128 pages it's far too short. Maybe I'm just a spoiled reader after the chunky "Box Office Poison" and the similarly thick "Tricked," but there's easily enough conceptual meat here (guy goes in for hypnosis, wakes up back in high school) to match the scope of those books. While the book flies by, Robinson still manages to hit all of the right and expected notes, and some of the funniest and most touching moments are derived from the natural conflict of a man with 50 years' experience trying to do things the "right" way instead of the way that his teenage self would have done them.

One spoiler-free note about the book's title and presentation in general; the final act takes such a heartbreaking left turn that I sat and cried for almost ten minutes after I finished it, having recently dealt with a similar experience in my own life. It's sort of baffling that the book has such a wackity-schmackity title and joke ciggy-pack presentation when the emotional center of the story ends up being a sledgehammer to the center of the reader's chest, though maybe that's the idea.

Wonderful Cartoon Storytelling

There is a blurb on the back of this book that states something about the fact that no writer captures the pain, anger, happiness, and triumph of being a teen better except maybe Stan Lee, and boy is this ever true.

I dove into this book thinking it was going to be good, but I was blown away at how great it was. The art is A+. There is brilliant flashes of great cartooning. In some ways it reminds me of a Jeff Smith, using the panels to assist in telling an wonderful story.

The lettering is fun and understated, while being interesting to read and sometimes challenging when it serves the plot. There is a great scene when the main character is being hypnotized where Alex Robinson uses the lettering to spell out what he is hearing and thinking, then reverses chunks and spells everything out backwards for a bit as he delves into his sub conscience mind.

The story is A+ as well. It starts out with a middle-aged man who wants to quit smoking, quaintly, almost comical. Then he decides to try to get hypnotized to never want to smoke. This opens his life back to when he was in high school, but with the mind and thoughts of a middle-aged man. As he reflects and lives out his day as a 15 year old again, he tries to make amends and finds keys to his life in current days. Finally he finds a certain moment that he feels that he has to change in order to quit smoking. After that is done he learns of one last task that he must accomplish before he can be sent back to his life as a middle-aged man.

The ending is very emotional and sad, but good in a way. I got a bit teary myself for a second because I know a lot of the pain that our main character was going through. There is not much falling action after the emotional climax; the ending is almost totally understated, but I like it. After all of that, I was drained myself, so the ending keep sweetly and quickly.

This was definitely the best book of 2008 in my view. If you are a comic book fan or even just a fan of great storytelling and great cartooning, this is a book that is well worth picking up. I cannot imagine a comic book fan not having this on their shelf. It goes next to your Complete Bone book, your copy of Comic Book tattoo, and your Strangers in Paradise books.

A+

Eisner, Harvey, and Ignatz Award winner Alex Robison made his impact in the world of independent comics with the release of his long running Box Office Poison which eventually culminated in a 600 plus page slice-of-life graphic novel that depicted the lives of a ragtag group of comic book artists, historians, bookstore clerks, and others attempting to get by and find fulfillment in New York. Now, Robinson has produced a new graphic novel, To Cool to Be Forgotten, which, although under a quarter length of Box Office Poison also makes a fine edition to graphic novel fans who like their books to be sans superheroes, girls in chainmail bikinis, and fellows whose epic battles extend to some twelve books.

Too Cool to be Forgotten centers on the life of Andy Wicks, a bald, myopic, middle-aged man who has done his best to quit smoking--patches, nicotine gum, cold turkey--but the allure of cigarettes always brings him back to his habit. Finding himself at a dead end, he takes his wife's advice to try some "new age mumbo jumbo" in order to help him overcome his addiction. His doctor puts him under hypnosis and, instead of finding himself thinking that he is a chicken, finds himself back in 1985 when he was 15-years-old, a time during which he was a fan of Iron Maiden, had a nice stash of girly magazines, and was friends with a group of nerdy, marginalized students who, while not being the complete outcasts of the school, were among the "social elite."

Realizing that he has been given a second chance to nip his bad habit in the bud, Andy decides to turn down the first cigarette that he will be offered at a party. Not wanting to change his future dramatically in any other way ala Back to the Future, Andy limits himself to interacting only with his old friends, but when the opportunity comes up to ask a girl whom he has a crush on if she will accompany him to a party, he can't turn down the opportunity, and slowly he realizes that there might be other things that he needs to remedy besides his addiction to cigarettes.

One of the aspects that makes Robinson's Box Office Poison such an enjoyable graphic novel is its brightly colored canopy of characters each of whom have very distinct personalities and, because of the length of the book, there personalities are fully fleshed out so the reader can truly feel and identify with each character. Too Cool to be Forgotten is quite different in this aspect not only because of the brevity of the book itself, but because the reader is in the mind of one character whose perceptions act as the reader's perceptions and Robinson does a great job of truly showing how lacking a number of person to person relationships can be and truly little people know about each other. However, Robinson also shows a darker side of personal perspective and memory, showing how an individual's memory can be quite selective of what it remembers and how things that are forgotten, or repressed, are the things that truly should be remembered.

Robinson's artwork, for some, might leave a bit to be desired. It is minimal and the character designs are rather simple, but through them he is able to convey emotion quite well to which at some points becomes quite cartoony in an overall more realistic work. Where Robinson's art truly shines is within the beings of his characters. Not one to make idealized stereotypes in comic form, Robinson's characters suffer from frizzy hair, pimples, and all matter of other traits which truly make individuals unique in this imperfect world.

While it might not be on the same scope as Box Office Poison or his later worked Tricked, Too Cool to Be Forgotten makes a fine edition to ones graphic novel collection.

From the creator of the acclaimed graphic novel epics "Box Office Poison" and "Twisted" comes this lean, charming story of 40-year old Andy Wicks. At his wife's gentle suggestion, Wicks tries hypnotherapy in yet another attempt to quit smoking cigarettes. He instead is somehow transported back to his sophomore year of high school in 1985, though he retains his adult mind. Aware of his future, does he change the past by choosing or acting differently? The plot follows Wicks through a few school days and converges on the party where he tried his first cigarette. The closing chapter offers a tender, jarring conclusion. Robinson authentically captures the unpolished passions and cruelty of teenagers, at least based on what I remember from my experiences in the early 1990s. Wicks' reflective adult mind marvels at the overwhelming potentiality that fills the high school world, something he barely noticed his first time through. Michael J. Fox references abound, so similarities to 1985's "Back To The Future" blockbuster seem like an intentional homage. This book was nominated for a 2009 Harvey Award for "Best Original Graphic Album".

Great graphic novel.

If you were to wake up as a 15 year old again, but with the memories of your life up to 40, what would you think? What would you do?

This book hits the nail DEAD on the head. The protaganist has a very realistic, if short, trip to his own past, in order to try to fix something.

Very well done, a great read.

The impact of Robinson's storytelling skill is heightened by his animation style. The casual images feed the juvenile subjects, then hammer home the impact and honesty of the drama. Color me an instant fan. I'll now be searching out the rest of his works, and hoping to be equally pleased.

Too Cool to Be Forgotten has that perfect melding of title and cover that makes for a perfect image, so absolutely clever and funny that it begs to be read. Luckily, the story inside lives up to the hype of the outside imagery.

Andy Wicks wants to quit smoking. Now 40, he's been puffing away since he was 15, when he took his first drag while trying to look cool at a party. It led to a lifetime of addiction. As a full-grown man in middle age, with a wife and two daughters, he desperately wants to kick the habit, but he's found it difficult, if not impossible, in the past.

When his wife drags him to a hypnotist, he's not sure what to think. But he's willing to give anything a try, no matter how goofy it may seem. And so he finds himself in a center for holistic medicine undergoing a procedure he doesn't know what to make of--especially when he wakes from his trance as a 15-year-old in 1985. (Those who are math-inclined may notice that timing is a little off, which is most likely intentional: Either the modern-day portion of the story is set in 2010 or the numbers aren't meant to add up. It's probably the former, but this is a book that comes with the following disclaimer, so the latter is possible too: "Page 84 includes an error in which the protagonist . . . thinks the word "Dad" instead of "Did." This will not be corrected. . . . We apologize if the author's stubborn refusal to listen to reason, demands or threats at all diminished your enjoyment. . . .")

The author, Alex Robinson, has made a name for himself with the graphic novels Box Office Poison and Tricked. Here, he manages to deliver a perfectly subdued work that perfectly walks the line of wittiness and pathos. Alex isn't desperate to relive his teenage years--he barely made it out the first time--but he is determined to understand what he's doing here and why. When he gets the chance to amend his younger days and to approach his love life with the courage of an adult rather than an awkward teenager, he does so only for his own edification, not for revenge or for the opportunity to take advantage.

Robinson wisely saves the book's most tender moments for the riveting finale. The payoff is not so much a surprise--it can't be; it feels too right and too familiar--but it still catches the reader offguard.

Too Cool to Be Forgotten is full of some special touches too. Fans of sci-fi and fantasy who have contemplated the ramifications of time travel will appreciate Andy's dilemma regarding the perplexities of what's going on (like how much can he change in the past and still arrive at the future he knows?). Andy's amazement at the sheer potential that was present back in high school serves as a touching reminder of what brought him there in the first place, a need to quit something that was holding him back and threatening his future. The conclusion he ultimately reaches in this regard is the true emotional center of this excellent work.

-- John Hogan

This book was a joy to read. The storytelling was rich and the artwork was fun, it definitely gave me a taste of fantasies I've had about going back and addressing all the "what if" 's that come up with hind sight and regret. The story did take me back to that time in my life and in the world (though I'm a little younger) and I felt like it was rewarding to do so. Beyond a walk down memory lane the story itself stood out on it's own and was very compelling, I was crying by the end.

Lately, I've been interested in the topic of reliving portions of your life. In fact, we talked about it on one of the recent episodes of my podcast, The Sci-Fi Christian:

[...]

While this aspect of the story was fun to read through, the thing that hit me the most emotionally was when the main character dealt with the complexities of the relationship he had with his father. Very emotional.

SPOILERS

I'm a bit undecided with Alex Robinson. "Box Office Poison" was really too long and rubbish while "Tricked" had at least more of a story and was about 200 pages shorter. Anyway, I read that his latest "Too Cool To Be Forgotten" was the best graphic novel of the year (2008) and saw it in the library so picked it up. It's a small book, much more so than the gargantuan paperbacks with 400-600 pages in them. It's more like 100 pages in a small hardback book with a cigarette packet cover. It's attractive and well designed.

Reading it, I have to say I enjoyed it a lot more. I'm not sure if it's because Robinson has scaled back his canvas and so the story is tighter and the characterisation more vivid but his work was much more enjoyable to read this time around. A middle aged man trying to give up cigarettes is convinced by his wife to see a hypnotherapist to give up. While hypnotised he returns to his adolescence and experiences his high school years with all the knowledge and insight from his 40 something year old self. It's an interesting experience to say the least. He no longer has confidence issues in his appearance and pays no attention to cliques and so stands out as something of an anomaly. He asks out the girl he fancied, he stands up to bullying teachers, he reassures friends he knows will find happiness in later years. It's really a positive transformative experience. There is a shadow here though. At first he imagines it's the spectre of tobacco and realises that he is at the time when he tried his first cigarette but finds out the reason behind his need for escape at this time of his life.

His father is terminally ill and dying in the house. The man never got to say goodbye to his dad and this time around gets to tell him all the things he wanted to say and spend the last few hours of his dad's life with him which in reality he hadn't done as he was hanging around outside smoking cigarettes. He realises he's been killing himself slowly because of his guilt and anger at himself for not being there when his father passed away.

There's so much that could go wrong with a story this sentimental. The writer could go overboard on the maudlin and ruin it completely but luckily Robinson's made the right choices and brought it back when he needed to and give the panels space at the right times, giving them words at the right times. The effect is devastating and what started out as an innocuous John Hughes like story becomes a touching and human tale of relationships. I'm so glad I came back to Robinson after years of avoidance after Box Office Poison which to me was bloated and unreadable, to find he's matured into a skilled and masterful comics writer/artist. Definitely one to read, I highly recommend this to the comics enthusiast and to those who are just in search of a good read.