The Comics Journal

Review of Flood! A Novel in Pictures

November 1992

It's a cliche to refer to Eric Drooker's art as "expressionistic" (and probably an insult to call it "neo-expressionist"), but Drooker does meld the stark, harshly-lit drama of classic expressionist drawing with a deep cartoon sensibility--think of him as a bigfoot Otto Dix--to create a truly marvelous graphic novel, Flood!.

Readers of World War 3 Illustrated will be familiar with some of the works in Flood!, and readers of The New York Times and the Village Voice will recognize his style, but the cumulative effect of reading these stories all at once--some printed for the first time on good paper and in two colors--will astonish even those who were already admirers of Drooker's work. The title of the first chapter, "Home," is ironic; the protagonist of this story loses everything including his home. By the end, he is symbolically imprisoned in, though not sheltered by , the very panels that form the page. The next chapter, "L," contrasts a subway rider's dream with his reality. The final chapter is Drooker's tour de force. Here the boundaries between the artist and his art break down as the artists's metaphors begin rapidly to take over his life. This piece, drawn in deep blue and black on white, is one of the most beautiful pieces of comic art in recent memory.