BLOOD SONG
Jon: So I picked up something interesting a few months ago I'd like to recommend. Eric Drooker's BLOOD SONG. I was glad to see this as I didn't come across it in my local comic shop but rather my local book store. This was a nice surprise as their graphic novel section is quite shotty. In fact it's not even a section. It's a handful of shelf space. It's practically barren. Which I can understand since there's quite a few comic shops around. None the less, I feel they could sell more if they simply kept more in stock. But on this particular day I was delighted to see copies of, not only BLOOD SONG but NARCISSA and SHUTTERBUG FOLLIES as well. I immediately grabbed BLOOD SONG and put it with the rest of my days stash.
For those unaware BLOOD SONG is a silent journey of a young girls struggle to survive when her world is devastated. Eric Drooker is an artist whose work you may have recognized from The New Yorker or The Village Voice. Eric's work is rather amazing. Joe Sacco, cartoon journalist and author of PALESTINE and SAFE AREA GORAZDE wrote the intro and I believe put it quite well when he said "Each scratchboard-etched and water-coloured image in Blood Song works in sequential step to drive the story forward, and yet each could stand alone as a work of art."
ED: I order mine from Midtown Comics via UPS, so I'm waiting on a pile. I assume I should add this to said pile?
Jon: Yes Ed. Most of the art is done in black, white and blue and Eric creates these striking moments in art by adding bright splashes of yellow, red and orange. Another art method to keep your eye out for is the flow of his art. Normally when you see a double page spread in comics the artist will draw outside the border so when printed the image meets together at the fold in the center. But with BLOOD SONG each page is its own so in creating a flow between pages Eric actually crosses the gap unseen while still keeping a continuous line of action. Though silent, this reads like poetry and quite frankly took more time to get through then most other comics I've recently picked up... and those are scripted. Story wise, some may feel the role of the police takes on too oppressive of a presence, or at least that's a bit of what I've heard, but having recently been hassled by the cops two consecutive weekends in a row, I have no qualms with it whatsoever. Back to the art for a second, I'd also say it seems to just scream New York, if that makes sense. In the same way that Peter Kuper's art says NY, or scenes from METROPOLIS says NY, you can also see that in Eric Drooker's cityscapes in BLOOD SONG.
ED: You know... a lot of things scream NY.
Jon: Yes but you know how an image of a cityscape will uniquely say NY?
ED: Yes. Like a Velvet Underground song screams early East Village, NYC.
Jon: Without even identifying specifics, you can just tell
ED: Well, I can tell when an artist is NOT NYC.
Jon: This also has the most clever Canadian pricing I've ever seen. You see folks, because of our fluctuating dollar, cover prices tend to rise and drop as the value of our dollar changes. A while back Wildstorm even attempted to have exact conversions. So rather then a book costing something fifty, something seventy-five or something ninety-five it would be something sixty-three or something eighteen. Quite ridiculous. In fact many have given up and simply list the U.S. price only. But bracing the barcode of BLOOD SONG you'll find the U.S. price listing 20 dollars and the Canadian price simply listing "Higher in Canada". Ha! So clever it's cute. No price, just a note saying "Higher in Canada"--might just be me but I thought it was clever.
ED: No, that sounds amusing as all hell... what blows my mind? Most comics are printed in Canada, yet somehow the conversion always works against you. Why?
Jon: Simple answer; Our dollar is worth less then a dollar. So for all you yanks, when you complain about a 2-dollar comic just remember We pay about 60 percent more then you. And in Australia, even more
ED: Yes, but... it still winds up costing MORE.
Jon: It costs more because it's compared against the U.S. price
ED: Well, then serializer.net must be nice for you. You know what you're paying on the spot. In fact, if you buy the year at a good exchange rate time...
Jon: With sites like serializer and moderntales, it's cool, yes, but you also have to be a person with the time and patience to sit in front of your computer and read the features on the site.
ED: Is broadband becoming more popular up north?
Jon: I can't tell if you're trying to make a joke or not, a faster connection is always more popular. But there's also the matter of time you have in the day just to be online.
ED: No, no joke intended. I meant 'widespread' and not 'keen on'.
Jon: Right... you're just surprised we don't live in Igloos aren't you?