Existential dread and despair are feelings that are not easily communicated to a reader via text or imagery. That uneasy, creeping sense of malaise that accompanies being emotionally numb in a seemingly unending urban landscape of concrete and refuse is hard to nail down recognizably without seeming overdone or heavy-handed. However, one comics artist that understands these feelings and the environment that conjures them is Mark Beyer, and his favored method of expression are through his two key characters, the queasily comical “Amy & Jordan.”

Self-Portrait

Mark Beyer is a self-taught artist whose highly geometric yet almost childlike illustrations perfectly juxtapose the grim subject matter he prefers to deal with.  His self-published comics caught the attention of “Maus” creator and underground comic master Art Spiegelman. With the demise of the comic anthology “Arcade” in the 70’s, Spiegelman, worried that comics for thinking adults may disappear completely, laid the foundation for the hugely influential “Raw” magazine and Beyer was invited on board. It is important to note that although “Raw” featured a regular stable of top independent creators like Gary Panter, Sue Coe, Charles Burns and Kim Deitch, Beyer is the only artist to appear in every issue besides editor Spiegelman himself.

It was in the pages of “Raw” that a larger audience became exposed to the characters “Amy & Jordan,” a highly co-dependent couple attempting to come to terms with their bleak surroundings and even bleaker relationship and failing miserably at every turn. They are assaulted at nearly every turn by thugs, teenagers, insects, animals, inanimate objects and even their own apartment. Yet still, no matter how much the world abuses them they suffer the most at the hands of each other. Though they seem to carry some semblance of affection and caring for each other there is also an extremely unhealthy amount of verbal and physical abuse almost always transpiring and usually leading to one (or both) of them beaten and bloody. Even sleep is not a respite from their torments. In the image below a sleeping Amy & Jordan are seen in the upper right while their sub-conscious counterparts continue to pound and maim one another.

There are times when the duo are close to experiencing actual happiness, but these rare occasions are always doomed to end badly. On a brief respite from the endlessly oppressing big city in which they, live Amy & Jordan go to the beach for some relief, only to be stomped on by a group of rowdy boys. Yet still, bruised and bloody, Jordan attempts to put a positive spin on things by saying: “We’re still alive and it is a nice feeling to lie on the beach even if we are paralyzed with fear!” On this note it is important to say that no matter what manner of devastating event is put upon them, Amy & Jordan persevere all the same, even though they know that around every street corner is more of the same living hell they are constantly facing.

The vast majority of Beyer’s work is solo, but the final volume of “Raw,” released in 1991, featured a collaboration with writer Alan Moore on a work titled “The Bowing Machine.” The story, concerning the all consuming nature of the Japanese work ethic and the usage of a machine to help one practice the all important bow, is a perfect mixture of Moore’s poetic prose and Beyer’s alienated art. If you are an Alan Moore collector and do not have this story (which has never been reprinted elsewhere) you are missing a small, yet important piece of his work.  Below is the first of the tale’s eight pages.

Though new releases from Beyer are infrequent, interest in Beyer’s work and his two key characters spawned one of the most unlikely (and cool) comic collectibles ever: an Amy & Jordan bendable figure set, released by Dark Horse Deluxe in 2006. To see the pair, who reside so solidly in their flat two-dimensional world brought to 3D life is bizarre to say the least. Soon after this release was a stationery set featuring the often doomed couple as well.

We all know existential dread is severely depressing, but who knew it could be pretty damn funny too?  Though there seems to be little to laugh about in the situations mentioned above, Beyer’s precise, yet off-kilter, draftsmanship combined with the incredibly bizarre scenarios and the sheer perseverance of Amy & Jordan prove to be high-minded comedy gold for those with a very particular sense of humor.

John Mueller

john@comicimpact.com