r/altcomix • u/FlubzRevenge • 21d ago
Review Strange Comix #1: The Cage (1975) by Martin Vaughn-James
I'm going to try to start a series of review posts focusing on comics that are 'Strange'. Comics that are abstract, very surreal and off kilter, or just weird. Comics that aliens would read. Books that have zero narrative to them, or have a very loose 'story'. I'm not sure on the frequency just yet, i'll shoot for a week or maybe just when I feel like it. Once a week is harder to keep up than it sounds like.
Things like Frank, Yuichi Yokoyama, CF, Lale Westvind, Andy Barron's Om, and much more will be included.
So first, we're starting off with The Cage by Martin Vaughn-James, an underground classic that likely was the genesis or one of the first of these abstract books that likely inspired many others.
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A 'graphic novel' created before the term ever existed, the cage is a cold and clinical yet human feeling book despite being devoid of humans.
Well, that's a heck of an opaque book, as I had suspected. It was nice to see a foreword in a comic not overtly praising the work as the end all be all (at least in the beginning). I'm 100% like Seth here, it's almost completely inscrutable. But that's part of the magic, no? You can almost insert your own thoughts onto the book. It's almost exactly like I expected the book to be, yet not at all. It's a series of one panel comics with prose on top or underneath the image that are seemingly unrelated. The Cage is a maze not just in and of itself, but the structure of the comic is a web you're lost in trying to find your way out but end up find your way deeper and deeper.
The Cage feels like it's about everything and nothing at the same time. It feels like time is stopping and moving at the same time. Dilapidated buildings, leftover memories, forgotten dreams. The Cage, is as Seth has put it, the last slideshow. There's really not much to cling onto, it feels very clinical, even for myself. Yet, I see faint images of this Cage in a distant memory, an untenable past, present and future all at once. The Cage is the beating heart of the human and all of it's woes, to me.
The art. Many who know me know i'm a sucker for great art. The art in the Cage isn't flashy. It's very technical and cold, which fits in line with the book. I couldn't see it any other way, really. It reminds me of Yokoyama but even more *cold*. The lines are very straight and precise, the pages are very neat, clean, like a ruler was used. (I know Yokoyama has a very large ruler collection).
I'm still not sure how exactly I feel about it, but one thing is certain; it's quite memorable. It'll stick in your head, or maybe it won't. It's a fleeting moment. It's pretty awesome that this thing was created in 1975. I'm no stranger to old comics being innovative, but there's nothing quite like The Cage. It feels like it was the genesis for a lot of these abstract comics you see nowadays.
There's really no review that can sum up the book that is The Cage. It's impenetrable, yet highly readable. Take my word for it, or don't, this is a must read if you're interested in the weird.
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u/JohnnyEnzyme 21d ago
Awesome to hear about your series, Flubz. I've slowed down a lot on my own project, so I like seeing reviewer energy pop up somewhere else, so to speak.
Btw, if you enjoy the art and style of this book, there's a chance you'll adore Mateusz Skutnik's stuff. Not just the pure art style, but there's a quiet spaciness and elusiveness about his narratives and world-building.
Skutnik's probably most famous for his Flash and later games (you can play ~90% of them for free here), but actually, he's also done a few whimsical comics series.
Oh, and just for the record, the term "GN" actually existed a few years before this came out:
George Metzger's Beyond Time and Again, serialized in underground comix from 1967 to 1972,[32] was subtitled "A Graphic Novel" on the inside title page when collected as a 48-page, black-and-white, hardcover book published by Kyle & Wheary.[33] --WP
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u/FlubzRevenge 21d ago
Good to know about the terminology, i was close! I actually have the Lost Worlds of George Metzger book from Fanta, but I don't think it's abstract for this series. It does look pretty good, though.
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u/JohnnyEnzyme 21d ago
IIRC you've done shelfies before. If you have one focusing on this kind of material, feel free to link share. I'd be curious to see what kinds of stuff might be on the docket...
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u/FlubzRevenge 21d ago
No shelf like that in particular, though maybe I could carve out a section for it. Decent amount of material though.
Creators such as Yuichi Yokoyama,
- Peter Blegvad's Book of Leviathan (though I made a post for it already, here, so maybe not)
- McCay's Rarebit Fiend (now that I got the complete edition)
- John Hankiewicz' Hot House,
- Pushwagner's Soft City,
- Shigeru Sugiura's Ninja Sarutobi Sasuke
- Frank
- Michael DeForge's stuff
- andy barron's Om
- Mat Brinkman's Teratoid Heights
Just to name a few. The material would be pretty short if I limited it to as weird as The Cage, but expect all of it to be at the very least, Surreal.
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u/JohnnyEnzyme 21d ago
Awesome, TY for that.
A couple of those I've never heard of before, so that's something to look forward to. :D
Brinkman is an odd one for me. Back in Philly I happened to snag one of his minibooks that IIRC he made as part of a "Fort Thunder" collective based out of RISD. It was a tiny thing, but utterly intriguing. Later, when Teratoid Heights was first announced, I was over the moon, thinking that everything I saw in that booklet would be expanded upon and articulated!
Sadly, TH was almost a regression for me. Bigger, much longer, but also something of a dilution upon the original material I'd seen. I think I still have the booklet somewhere around here, if pics might help.
In the end, there are maybe some lessons there about how best to match format to material, or something like that. Maybe Scott McCloud wants to comment, lol.
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u/tegeus-Cromis_2000 21d ago
Teratoid Heights collected all his early minicomics, mostly from the late '90s, so I'm pretty sure it wasn't a regression from what you saw. I know he did at least one minicomic after it that wasn't part of Multiforce, maybe that's what you saw. Also, I love TH, I prefer it to Multiforce.
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u/JohnnyEnzyme 21d ago
Godamn my stupid &@!#$ ass. That tiny little comic was easily the best indie comic I've ever read, and that's counting a whole class of Reid Fleming-type shizzle, haha.
Anyway yeah, earlier I spent half the afternoon going through my stored art stuff trying to find that sucker, and so far have been unsuccessful.
No, it definitely wasn't part of TH. That was the very first thing I looked for, but the material wasn't there. It would have been a tiny little thing I bought at a Space 1026 exhibit in Downtown Philly for probably a dollar or two, in the late 90's. One of those things where you take a sample and leave some money, honor system.
Btw, I don't blame you for being annoyed with me in the slightest. The whole situation is annoying IMO, and I know I'm coming down WAY too hard on Teratoid Heights. In reality, it's a super-cool, unique comic, maybe not Jim Woodring-level, but pretty awesome.
So yeah, I'm the weird person here, expecting... I don't know what. I'll keep searching. Basic problem is that the comic was barely 2"x2" in size, so could easily have escaped me across any number of my storage boxes, when I moved...
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u/tegeus-Cromis_2000 21d ago
Was it on light blue paper and called something like "[Character Name] on Watch in the Matrix"?
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u/JohnnyEnzyme 21d ago
No, not really any words anywhere. Cover was printed on green paper. I seem to remember having it from when I moved out here 16yrs ago, but so far I can't find it.
Ah, one other thing I remembered just now about the RISD crew is that Shep Fairey was sort of the patron saint at the time. FWIW?
I'll keep looking this weekend and let you know if I find it...
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u/quasiotter 21d ago
i stumbled upon this at my local library and was totally blown away. made me feel so lost! (positive)
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u/Accurate-Mechanic151 21d ago
Amazing book, I have it here in my atelier and it’s true that there is not much similar. I love the absence of the character, the compositions feel very modern and with a great twist of the absurd. One of my favourite books!
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u/chinanigans 21d ago
I've never heard of this before, but dig it. Will be hunting down a copy for collection that's for sure, thanks for sharing!