We recently received a couple of back issues of the insanely prolific Canadian comic artist Michael Deforge‘s ongoing series, Lose. If you are unfamiliar with the series each issue of Lose functions as a self-contained anthology of short comics, each employing a distinctive and new set of narrative and visual techniques that always manage to somehow challenge traditional comic methodologies.
Lose #2
Within the pages of Lose #2, we are presented with a story entitled, “It’s Chip”, a perversely funny comic about an unhappy young boy who is the victim of occasional bullying. During the course of the story however, he encounters a large parasitic spider-like creature whom he forms an odd companionship with. Definitely harkening back to elements of older horror-comics from the golden age of comics, this eccentric coming-of-age story is slick with black humour and is almost what the film, My Neighbour Totoro might have been like if it hade been directed by David Cronenberg.
Lose #3
The third issue of Lose has a few short stories penned in between the confines of its covers, but the largest and most compelling is the story entitled “Dogs 2070″ which tells the tale of a recently divorced canine screenwriter who lives in an apocalyptic junkyard. This character, who is named Stephen, tries throughout the story in a variety of vain and desperate attempts in trying to rekindle his relationship with his son and wife . “Dogs 2070″ is at once hilarious and melancholic, in that it combines such a fantastical and unbelievable set of characters and landscapes with writing that, while still very funny, has the an underlying sense of the very real sadness that comes along with a divorce.
Artist Bio
Michael DeForge was born in 1987 and currently works out of Toronto as a cartoonist and commercial illustrator. Past clients include The Believer, Vice, New York Times Magazine and The Walrus. In 2008 he was nominated for a National Magazine Award in the category of “Best Illustration” for work printed in Ottawa Magazine. He has collaborated with the printmaking group Bongout on the silkscreened book “Hand Astronaut” and participated in the group show “Neighbourhood Sacrifice” at the Deleon White Gallery with Jesjit Gill and Steph Davidson. Among his influences are Jack Kirby, Mark Newgarden, Saul Steinberg and Eduardo Munoz Bachs. Lose #1 was his first full length comic, published by Koyama Press in 2009. He was nominated for a 2010 Doug Wright Award in the category of “Best Emerging Talent.”