Writer/Artist: Lance Tooks
Publisher: NBM Publishing
Lance Tooks’ Between the Devil & Miles Davis reads more like a poem than a graphic novel. The beats of the speech and the general scat nature of the dialogue and the story construction sounds more like a postmodern poetical construction than an original comic presentation. Tooks’ work is a deconstruction of the demons that afflict Amo (our main character) and Narcissa, who is probably the devil in this short sequential play (Lucifer’s Garden of Verses features the devil as a protagonist or antagonist in each of the volumes of this series.). What the reader takes away from this extended visual poem is an examination of the rebelliously singular mind, one that doesn’t compromise with the status quo. Tooks understands that, in order to make this story compelling, he has to fill this comic with lots of stark shading, powerful short vignettes, and language straight out of a Toni Morrison novel. Yes, there is a specific audience that Tooks is looking to reach with this tome, but any discerning reader will find much about The Devil & Miles Davis to love and savor.
One of the effective techniques that Tooks utilizes in this graphic novel is the shading, which changes starkly when Amo first encounters the Smokeasy, Narcissa’s bar. Upon entering, everything about Amo becomes a photographic negative, as her skin becomes the color of tar and her hair lightens in shade. I felt like I had entered another world, or at the very least a kind of mythical underground captured with a capable pen. Tooks makes Amo and Narcissa’s blackness beautiful, with a richness that causes them to appear like goddesses within this Heaven-on-Earth. Well, Heaven-on-Earth for Amo, anyway! She finally finds a bar in New York City where she can smoke, a law she finds just as ridiculous as the world she lives in, where incompetent boobs can attain media dominance and the written word has lost the power it once held. Yes, the world we live in can be humbling to those thinking people who realize the dire state of current affairs, in which the inmates are running the asylum (pardon the cliche). Like many of these intelligent sceptics, Amo takes refuge in an escape from reality, and that escape resides in a bottle, which never asks hard questions and always leaves her feeling empowered. But, the drinks served at the Smokeasy are not designed for the easy escape. In fact, Amo comments, “How come I’m getting less drunk with every drink you fix me?” What Narcissa wants Amo to walk out of the Smokeasy with is a simple realization: Life is beautiful and worth fighting for, no matter what the obstacles. In between the seductive chords of Miles Davis (titles of his albums float throughout this comic, such as Bitches Brew and Water Babies), the slightly-veiled expose of Woody Allen, and the ups-and-downs of each lady’s heart and soul lies an appreciation of all life offers, both the glorious and the despicable. Tooks has made this installment into a life-affirming ode to the world we all live in, incorporating charm and wit for a well-rounded effect.
Amo’s existence is a feast for the senses, and Tooks realizes how to make us touch, taste, smell, and hear the main character as well as see her and her dialogue. This is the portrait of a strong woman who has faced many forks in the road, usually choosing the more challenging path. The fact that Tooks can write such strong female characters is astonishing to me, particularly in a medium which typically defines strength in a physical manifestation. Amo is willful, hard-headed, and almost frustrating in her self-destructive displays. However, any reader who has given this graphic novel a try will find his or her eyes glued to each and every panel in which Amo resides. To say she’s a fascinating character study does her little justice. This is as real a character construction as you can get in a comic book, and I hope other comic creators will take note of what Tooks has done with Amo.
Once again, NBM has produced a winner: a graphic novel that will appeal to indy comics mavens, literature enthusiasts, and mainstream fans with an open mind. I hope that NBM doesn’t lose sight of this focus in the future, as they are producing some of the finest comics in the medium today.
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