Plexus Ranger Reuben Flagg has a need to know…(from American Flagg! #3, December 1983)
The first twelve issues of American Flagg! are high up there on my list of favorite comics ever. It’s a shame the series went downhill quickly after that initial sequence of interlinked three-issue arcs. It’s Howard Chaykin’s finest work, both as a writer and an illustrator, and he employs his stylistic bag of tricks (zip-a-tone and other offbeat texturing/shading techniques, art-integrated sound effects, a roguish protagonist, and women in garter belts) to full effect in this quasi-cyberpunk story of an ailing future America and the one man who still has faith in the Dream…even if it leads him to use a chair to beat the shit out of a man in order to keep control of a pirate television station that broadcasts old porn films and illegal basketball games.
Highly recommended, though not for everyone. (Certain aspects of the comic veer close to what could be interpreted as sexist or, to a lesser extent, homophobic, though it’s a tough call, rooted as they are in the overall stylistic tone of the story. It’s not a huge problem – for me, at least – but I felt obligated to toss it out there.) While there has been talk of releasing the series in collected format, nothing has materialized so far. The original issues aren’t that difficult or expensive to pick up, though, and have the added bonus of including the original letters pages. The series was at the vanguard of the push toward more adult-oriented comics material made possible by the rise of the direct market in the early 80’s (i.e. comic book shops versus distribution via the newsstand), and it’s interesting to read the readers’ responses to the book’s social/political commentary and its inclusion of (extremely tame/tasteful by contemporary standards) sexual themes. They serve as a nice reminder that comics fans have always been a bit…peculiar; it just that now they have the world wide web as a soapbox by which to broadcast their eccentricities from.
So, how does one follow up a bit of furniture-and-fist brutality? With some hot love action, of course. It’s the Plexus Ranger way…
Highly recommended, though not for everyone. (Certain aspects of the comic veer close to what could be interpreted as sexist or, to a lesser extent, homophobic, though it’s a tough call, rooted as they are in the overall stylistic tone of the story. It’s not a huge problem – for me, at least – but I felt obligated to toss it out there.) While there has been talk of releasing the series in collected format, nothing has materialized so far. The original issues aren’t that difficult or expensive to pick up, though, and have the added bonus of including the original letters pages. The series was at the vanguard of the push toward more adult-oriented comics material made possible by the rise of the direct market in the early 80’s (i.e. comic book shops versus distribution via the newsstand), and it’s interesting to read the readers’ responses to the book’s social/political commentary and its inclusion of (extremely tame/tasteful by contemporary standards) sexual themes. They serve as a nice reminder that comics fans have always been a bit…peculiar; it just that now they have the world wide web as a soapbox by which to broadcast their eccentricities from.
So, how does one follow up a bit of furniture-and-fist brutality? With some hot love action, of course. It’s the Plexus Ranger way…
Shit, I can’t even get a peck on the cheek from Maura if I’ve eaten a tuna salad sandwich in the last forty-eight hours, much less with a blood and vomit cocktail fresh on my lips…
Our Daughter’s Wedding – Lawnchairs (from 1981’s Digital Cowboy EP, collected on Nightlife: The Collection, 2006) – Vintage New York synthpop that reminds me of early Men Without Hats (Keith Silva’s vocals, especially). Lawnchairs are everywhere! Keep watching the patio!
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