Customer Reviews

Trosper

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

 

 

Jim Woodring has enjoyed a comics career that runs from his beloved independent Jim and Frank books to popular additions to the Aliens and Star Wars franchises. Now, he adapts one of his newer stories to a picture-book format, and experimental jazz artist Bill Frisell is on board as well with a 6 or so minute soundtrack cd. A soundtrack cd for a tiny picture book may sound carzy to you, but Woodring and Frisell are quite serious; they are currently touring together as an art/music show.

Trosper is a very short story involving a little elephant-like creature who loves his ball so so much! Sadly for him, the Forces of Darkness can't stand to see such fun, and conspire to ruin Trosper's day. That's just about it for the plot, but I think you'll be fairly involved anyway, thanks to Woodring's great color art, which just seems to get better and better. The book has one large picture on each 2nd page, with the first being blank, save for one splash picture. There are no words, but this never weakens Woodring's Frank material, and Trosper is similarly aided by the lack of text. The soundtrack is oddly dark and brooding. But this serves to bring out the darkness that seems to lurk within even Woodring's most cheerful work. Needless to say, if you like experimental electronic/jazz stuff, you'll enjoy the cd.

The real fun in Trosper lies in going over it again and again. Is it pure art for art's sake? A throwback to the Little Golden Books of childhood? A commentary of childhood's dangers and fear? A fable about the human desire to erase spiritual pain through material obsession? An overpriced nicknack? Whatever it is, it's fun and beautiful, and fans of Woodring and/or Frisell ought to check it out. Everyone else: you might just like it anyhow.

Typically it is Jim Woodring who does the artwork for Bill Frisell's album covers. "Gone, Just Like a Train" are "Bill Frisell with Dave Holland and Elvin Jones" are not just two of Frisell's strongest recordings. Thanks to Jim Woodring, these albums feature some of the most remarkable artwork to adorn Frisellian releases. With "Trosper," these artists do a flip. It is not Jim Woodring who does the artwork for a Bill Frisell album, but Frisell who plays the soundtrack to a Woodring book. "Trosper" is a journey into a dark world of surrealism. Trosper is a baby elephant. While all he wants to do is play with his ball, he is chased by creatures that are equal parts nefarious and bizarre. After being pursued around the house by dementors, Trosper forgets that he is being stalked and returns to playing with his ball. That's it for the plot. In terms of the illustrations, they are the psychedelic eye candy that the illustrator's fans have come to adore. There is no text. As with other Woodring publications, every other page is blank, as if waiting for the reader to fill in words to go along with the pictures. Featuring music and stunning illustrations, "Trosper" is a neat experience. Regardless of such qualities, it leaves the impression that the story could have featured a functional plot. The reader shouldn't fall into the trap of thinking that they're just not bright enough to figure out what clever and post-modern muse was running through the illustrator's mind. There's a place for absurdism and it works well in books like "The Frank Book" and "Seeing Things." In this environment - the picture book - it should have featured a more conventional plot, as in "Pupshaw And Pushpaw." Beyond this, the music is unremarkable. The untitled piece plays Frisell's atmospheric minimalism. Calling it a soundtrack may be an exaggeration given that the CD features a six minute and forty-two second track. The nature of the plot and panic stricken tone make this a book that will appeal to Woodring collectors but not children. It's not that this has to appeal to a young audience, but a good plot appeals to all readers. While "Trosper" has merit, there is the sense that a partnership between Frisell and Woodring could have been so much more.

I looked at "Trosper" as a win-win situation since I like Bill Frisell and I am a new parent. As of this writing, my daughter is almost 17 months old and I haven't shown this book to her yet. The pages aren't toddler friendly. But I also hesitate because of the dark undercurrent of the "story."

As others have already said, there is an inferred story to this book. No text, just pictures. And the pictures show an evil nightmare blob kidnapping Trosper's guard and then chasing him around the house just when he was having fun playing with his ball. The evil...thing looks pretty menacing and almost too psychedelic for an easily frightened child.

The CD that comes with the book lasts for about five minutes (correction; about 6 minutes 43 seconds). For those of you familiar with Bill Frisell's discography, think of the 2000 album "Ghost Town" and you'll probably get a good idea of what the music sounds like. Bill's one-man guitarscapes are a perfect backdrop for an exhibition of Depression-era photographs (see his recent album "Disfarmer" and the various reviews), but dare I say it doesn't feel like it matches here. Trosper running for his life set to Frisell's twisted, spacey Americana? It's a neat experiment, I'll give it that.

So, I really don't know what to do with this book now. When my daughter is old enough to handle books with care, will she really feel like looking at a psychedelic nightmare while listening to amorphous, languid music? My guess is no. I showed it too my wife and she thought it was a little too terrifying for young children. But c'mon, as a small child I saw Bambi's mom get snubbed down. Well, you don't really "see" it happen, but you know what I mean.

Woodring's art work is one of the few the really capture the surreal world of early childhood dreams. As is true of all of Woodring's stuff this is a little pricey, but if you want to stimulate your child with something beautifully simple yet profound, this is a great litttle story. The music is nice but I didn't see how it related to the story. Some of the images can be a little scary as littley Trosper is being chased by some sinister critters, but not more so than a Grimms fairy tale or classic Disney.

There's just something about Jim Woodring's art in "Trosper" that triggers the happy centers in my brain! When accompanied by Bill Frisell's lovely music, it's like the cherry on the sundae!