So . . . yeah.  I’m not sure if I should be flattered or insulted, but my editor likes throwing the weird stuff at me.  I like the weird stuff (much like Captain Hammer, but I digress), but man it can take work.   It’s hard to figure out what the message was supposed to be versus what I got out of it versus what YOU might get out of it – especially if “it” is some crazy picture-only book of abstract ideas about “stuff.”  And, “things” sometimes, too.

You know what I’m saying.

So, it was with not a small amount of resentment and trepidation that I began my journey into 321: Fast Comics.  The Speed Dating of comics, if you will – this is a graphic novel/compilation of 3-page comics.  Like 21 of them to be exact (so I guess I read 63 pages . . . huh).  Anyway, each little comic is supposed to be like a narrative of people next to you – in a bar or on the street or whatever – you get a snippet of what they’re saying, you understand a little (or a lot) of the story, and they wander out of ear shot.  I mean this metaphorically – each 3 page comic is completely different . . . many in completely different worlds.  With me still?

I expected 63 pages of artsy feelings and hipster irony.  What I actually got were some 20 (In fairness, I didn’t like one of them.) parables, clever jokes, different takes, and downright goodness.  It’s like after reading the latest 1,200-page, epic Stephen King (who I love) novel, sometimes I just need a 100-page novella or short story, because I can’t take another deep dive right at that moment.  Savvy?  Anyway, 321: Fast Comics is the short story and novella compilation of comics.  For instance – did you ever wonder about Watson and Sherlock meeting as roommates for the first time?  Who knows – maybe the Sherlock world has covered this, but in 3 pages an entertaining, little interaction of miscommunication and awkwardness shows how it might have been – and since I know how it turned out (what with solving crimes and 2 movies and a million books, plus the never-ending TV shows), I was a willing confederate in the story . . . I was an insider. 

To say every story has a twist is wrong, but every (except maybe 1) story has something in it that compelled me.   I’m not going further.  If you like short stories (like me), this is a crazy, cool, little book.

If you’re an aspiring writer, if you’re bored of epic tales, if you are clever and want to see clever by someone else, or if you want a VERY cool graphic novel that newbies can pick up and love, you should buy this.  I am about to order it myself.  It’s pretty freaking cool.

Hasta. 

*321: Fast Comics is currently running a Kickstarter campaign that may be found here.