cover image Moose

Moose

Max de Radigues. Conundrum, $17 (160p) ISBN 978-1-89499-493-4

Most stories of isolated and set-upon children are melodramatic affairs, with long periods of trial and tribulation to be gotten through before the final cathartic victory over their oppressor. There is some of that to be found in Belgian cartoonist de Radigues's stark, thoughtful graphic novel (originally published in France and serialized in the US by Oily Comics) about Joe, a quiet high school kid who is relentlessly and savagely beaten down by a sadistic bully. But de Radigues doesn't follow the standard script, in all the best ways. Unlike many shy Tolkien-reading, socially maladroit fictional teens, Joe doesn't have an outsider posse to gather himself into; his solitude is almost complete. His beaten-down quietude is reflected in de Radigues' spare, wintry drawings, which look like a cleaned-up version of Jeffrey Brown. The artist always keeps one eye cocked on the natural world, which is far less sentimental about Joe's position in the predator-prey power structure. There is also little attempt to understand the humanity of Joe's tormentor, the twisted nature of his need to publicly and even sexually degrade Joe, or to give readers an easy out with a morally complex ending. De Radrgues's book is a superb sliver of teen life, best appreciated by adults. Some nudity. (May)