philippos42 ([personal profile] philippos42) wrote2010-06-07 03:20 pm
Entry tags:

Orange

Orange, by Benjamin (a.k.a. Benjamin Zhang Bin, Bin Zhang)

Took me a while to get around to reading this. It's very downbeat, & I wonder to what degree there is any edification to be had from it. But it feels honest to me, a longtime depressive.

What separates this from the angry "adolescent" work typical of Britcomix/Vertigo?

The Vertigo style is about externalized rage, trying to crap on everything else. All beauty is actively & passionately denied.

Benjamin's destructive impulses are internal, & the story is about self-destruction as a kind of sacrifice. The apparent futility is still laden with meaning & sense that there is beauty in the world, anyway.

Anyway, look at it for the art. Benjamin has a bunch of illos in the back he did for other things. Pretty. Pity the man himself seems so despondent.