Writer/Artist: Lewis Trondheim Publisher: NBM Publishing
Mister I is a minimalist comic book, plain and simple. Lewis Trondheim is the pop graphic art equivalent of Samuel Beckett, Robert Bresson, and Andy Warhol, and his work reflects this minimalist mind-set. Every page of this 32-page graphic novel is filled with exactly 60 panels each, and each one of these pages is a unique story about the life and death struggles of the title character. Mister I is an long, lean, flesh-colored character (uh, yeah, I thought the same thing at first as well...), who is always in search of food yet can never attain that little mouthful of paradise. Like Mr. Bean or, more crudely, the Trix Rabbit, Mister I goes to extreme lengths just to grab himself some food, with hilarious results for us and disastrous results for himself. You see, Mister I dies at the end of each and every page-long strip (except the last one), usually in some manner of bludgeoning that simply renders a pool of blood in the final panel. Don’t worry: It’s not gory or gratuitous in the least, though there are times when the humor degrades into the potty variety. But, one thing no reader can deny is the infectiousness of Trondheim’s material and the generous belly laughs he generates from simple figures in outrageous situations.
Most of Mister I’s food misadventures come in search of the stereotypical cooling pie on the windowsill. The front cover features an image of this, as well as eight of the thirty-two strips (including the last one). Just using this one quest as a microcosm of this entire book (can you have a microcosm of minimalism?), we can see the efforts of the main character just for a sweet taste of pie, and the consequent results of these efforts.
-He simply tries to grab it when no one’s looking = Mauled by a dog-like creature. -Again, simple snatch-and-grab = Slips on spilled pie and cracks his head open. -Grabs hot pie with mittens = Fed red-hot pie until he dies of shock. -Quickly grabs and runs away with pie = Runs headfirst into a wall and dies. -Slips into the house when the owner is outside = Crushed by the falling house. -Tunnels into the house = Run over by a car while sticking his head out of a hole. -Tries to tunnel again = House’s foundation gives way and crushes him underground. -And, most interesting of all, I saves a man from drowning, receives a monetary reward, and spends the money to make a pie = Ironically, someone steals the pie while it’s cooling on the windowsill (He doesn’t die in this strip!)
Like a Bizarro World version of a Spy vs. Spy agent, Mister I is not smart in the least, as you can see by the repeated attempts using many of the same techniques, as well as the stupefying final strip (if he’s so hungry, why doesn’t he eat the fruit he’s making the pie with and then bake the pie?). But, you feel a kind of kinship with this character, similar to the seminal lovable loser, Charlie Brown. While you may moan and think to yourself, “What an idiot,” you are compelled to keep turning pages, wondering what kind of sticky situation Mister I will get involved with next. Also compelling are the other strange creatures which inhabit this world, who are usually round and brightly colored, and who do some wacky things (like defecating in public, murdering others with guns or other implements, and being regular gluttons for any kind of edible product). Well, maybe these characters aren’t so wacky after all. Everyone feels the weight of consumption around them at times, so much so that it feels like you personally don’t have a chance to get a piece of the pie (no pun intended). Other people seem to get their way and are able to do whatever they want. Why not you? It’s a sense of alienation all of us have felt at one time or another, and it may be this occasional (or pervasive) alienation that makes Mister I such a compelling character. He doesn’t need to be drawn extravagantly with flair: he’s one of us, those who sometimes feel oppressed by the world around us.
While fourteen dollars is a lot to spend on a 32 page comic book, I think it’s well worth it. This hardcover graphic collection is a work of minimalist art, and something you will want to have on your bookshelf for years to come. Sure, the artwork is crude and the dialogue is non-existent (barring a few symbols for words). But, I guarantee you won’t find many comics more entertaining or involving than this minor masterpiece.
