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devinr's review
5.0
The sexual and political ideas in this book are...let me be charitable and say "questionable" at times. But the comic is brilliant.
In the issues contained in this collection, Howard Chaykin did things with page layout, visual storytelling, and dialogue, that surprised me. Funny and shocking, sometimes mindless and sometimes profound, and visually overwhelming, it's a surprisingly complex work, considering what the mainstream companies were coming up with at the time. The "futuristic" setting is dated - unsurprising considering Chaykin was extrapolating from the Cold War Climate of the early 1980s - but it still works, which speaks to the strength of the world that Chaykin constructed. Everything's dynamic: even when the characters are standing still they look like they could spring into action at any second. Also: it's got busty women, go-gang violence, illegal basketball games, political intrigue, betrayal, interplanetary travel, Soviet jewelry, and a talking cat who works at a police station. Incredibly complex and powerful comics, American Flagg is the kind of book that rewards re-reading - something I plan on doing sooner rather than later.
In the issues contained in this collection, Howard Chaykin did things with page layout, visual storytelling, and dialogue, that surprised me. Funny and shocking, sometimes mindless and sometimes profound, and visually overwhelming, it's a surprisingly complex work, considering what the mainstream companies were coming up with at the time. The "futuristic" setting is dated - unsurprising considering Chaykin was extrapolating from the Cold War Climate of the early 1980s - but it still works, which speaks to the strength of the world that Chaykin constructed. Everything's dynamic: even when the characters are standing still they look like they could spring into action at any second. Also: it's got busty women, go-gang violence, illegal basketball games, political intrigue, betrayal, interplanetary travel, Soviet jewelry, and a talking cat who works at a police station. Incredibly complex and powerful comics, American Flagg is the kind of book that rewards re-reading - something I plan on doing sooner rather than later.
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