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A review by thekarpuk
High Society by Dave Sim
1.0
I had a friend in high school who fancied himself a comic book sophisticant, and he adored the Cerebus series. I always shied away from the bible-thick volumes, because the sheer scope of the series intimidated, and his descriptions of everything contained within made me even less inclined to give it a try.
My instincts would have served me well in this case. The first volume was tolerable, if long-winded, with a few sections that descend into a wall of text, but High Society showed Dave Sim truly getting into his groove.
And I hate his groove.
Comics are a visual medium. I want to nail a copy of that sentence to Dave Sim's door, because this book contained huge chunks where things are written out when a visual display would have served the medium so much better. It also triggered one of my biggest peeves, which is when the writer decides to dispense with plot and character for a while so he can lecture me about politics, society, etc. It's an abuse of comics, and the hubris involved would almost impress if I didn't find it so deeply irritating.
The tonal shifts didn't help either. It's been years, but I still recall hating the character who Sim completely modeled after Groucho. It didn't come off as satirical, so it ended up feeling like a awkward homage that never really fit with the severity of everything else.
To this day I think I only finished this book because I paid full price for the copy. Everything I knew about the series suggested it only got more pedantic and word-heavy from that point forward, so I decided that this dose of Sim was probably enough for a lifetime.
My instincts would have served me well in this case. The first volume was tolerable, if long-winded, with a few sections that descend into a wall of text, but High Society showed Dave Sim truly getting into his groove.
And I hate his groove.
Comics are a visual medium. I want to nail a copy of that sentence to Dave Sim's door, because this book contained huge chunks where things are written out when a visual display would have served the medium so much better. It also triggered one of my biggest peeves, which is when the writer decides to dispense with plot and character for a while so he can lecture me about politics, society, etc. It's an abuse of comics, and the hubris involved would almost impress if I didn't find it so deeply irritating.
The tonal shifts didn't help either. It's been years, but I still recall hating the character who Sim completely modeled after Groucho. It didn't come off as satirical, so it ended up feeling like a awkward homage that never really fit with the severity of everything else.
To this day I think I only finished this book because I paid full price for the copy. Everything I knew about the series suggested it only got more pedantic and word-heavy from that point forward, so I decided that this dose of Sim was probably enough for a lifetime.