Never miss a post! 
Review: Cat Getting Out of a Bag
Cat Getting Out of a Bag and Other Observations
By Jeffrey Brown
Published by Chronicle Books. $12.95 USD
Indie comix darling Brown makes some career strides here hooking up with a large publisher like Chronicle for a book that is more likely to be shelved in the Cats section rather than Graphic Novels. That is, it's more of a gift book--something you get that cat lover you know rather than buy yourself. I remember hearing from Brown about this book almost a year ago and being interested for just that reason--not that I don't like Brown's work a lot, I do--but that I could get this for the cat-loving girl I was seeing at the time.
So, look, Roger Ebert taught me to judge something on its merits and its intentions rather than what I might wish it to be. This is not another collection of Jeffrey Brown relationship material. It's a lot of mostly silent strips featuring Brown's cat doing normal, if cute, things that cats do, like walk across the room, suddenly flop down on their backs, and lick their chest fur. And that's kind of cute, though Brown doesn't draw in an aggressively cutesy style, thank goodness. Nor does he draw realistically, aside from some portraits later on. It's, well, kind of an in-between style, but suitable enough. I'm not sure, though, just how successful this will be as a gift book, though. Flipping through, there are really no standout strips, just a lot of cat bits of business that many cat fanciers, even very adoring ones, will find rather mundane. I didn't not enjoy the book, but neither did it remind me much of how much I have enjoyed having a cat in my life the past three months, or provide any insight into what it means to be a cat owner. Again, I know, that probably isn't the purpose of the book, but as a bunch of cute strips, which would seem to be the main purpose, it's largely forgettable. Ironically, the purpose I'm using the book for is as a wedge under my bedroom door, to keep my cat from pushing the door open and getting to sleep on my bed while I'm at work. For that, it works rather well.
By Jeffrey Brown
Published by Chronicle Books. $12.95 USD
Indie comix darling Brown makes some career strides here hooking up with a large publisher like Chronicle for a book that is more likely to be shelved in the Cats section rather than Graphic Novels. That is, it's more of a gift book--something you get that cat lover you know rather than buy yourself. I remember hearing from Brown about this book almost a year ago and being interested for just that reason--not that I don't like Brown's work a lot, I do--but that I could get this for the cat-loving girl I was seeing at the time.
So, look, Roger Ebert taught me to judge something on its merits and its intentions rather than what I might wish it to be. This is not another collection of Jeffrey Brown relationship material. It's a lot of mostly silent strips featuring Brown's cat doing normal, if cute, things that cats do, like walk across the room, suddenly flop down on their backs, and lick their chest fur. And that's kind of cute, though Brown doesn't draw in an aggressively cutesy style, thank goodness. Nor does he draw realistically, aside from some portraits later on. It's, well, kind of an in-between style, but suitable enough. I'm not sure, though, just how successful this will be as a gift book, though. Flipping through, there are really no standout strips, just a lot of cat bits of business that many cat fanciers, even very adoring ones, will find rather mundane. I didn't not enjoy the book, but neither did it remind me much of how much I have enjoyed having a cat in my life the past three months, or provide any insight into what it means to be a cat owner. Again, I know, that probably isn't the purpose of the book, but as a bunch of cute strips, which would seem to be the main purpose, it's largely forgettable. Ironically, the purpose I'm using the book for is as a wedge under my bedroom door, to keep my cat from pushing the door open and getting to sleep on my bed while I'm at work. For that, it works rather well.
Posted by ChristopherAllen at 11:48 PM [Link to this post]
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home