In 1994 Brian Michael  Bendis, a guy most people had never heard of, sat down to write a book that would later be published in a hardcover about the thickness of a Sin City paperback.  If you look on Bendis’ twitter account, you will see very clearly “Successful writer, not successful artist.” I think that for a fan of Bendis, this book is a sentimental look back at what the writer would become.

The web goes deep, but not too deep.  This isn’t Kaiser Sose, but it’s on that level.  We follow a grifter named David Gold.  Some time ago he was slapped with the Goldfish moniker and a few equally cooky named characters (like “Visa”) joined him in taking the common man for all he’s worth.  By no means a challenging source of employment.  Dante from Clerks Goldfish disappears for ten years for an unknown reason (or maybe he was forced out, I’m only saying what we’re all thinking) only to return and find all of his property gone.  Somehow this comes as a shock to him and he goes on a quest to take down the only man woman that would have the gall to steal from him, who just happens to be his ex girlfriend.

Do you see how this isn’t very surprising?  There’s a few kids in there somewhere, and a waitress too drunk and self absorbed to figure out what’s what in the story, but that’s not why I spent ten hours reading and rereading this book last Saturday.  I couldn’t put it down because the dialogue pulled me in.  I’d reread entire pages out loud just to hear the voices I made for these people.  I actually had to stop reading and walk away from the book because I laughed so hard at one of the jokes, my sides hurt.

Somewhere in the pulp is the beginning of a fantastic writer.  It’s like a trip down memory lane, the way things used to be back when life was simpler and Rob Liefeld was doing Levis Commercials.  Several times in the story, Bendis will have one panel on each facing page, a staredown, with dialogue scrolling along the page.  Lazy, or conscious of what works?

Needless to say, this plot disaster turns into a car wreck ending with a tragic bang, but it’s the journey not the destination.  Even though it carries a hefty price tag, the reprint of the Image hardcover features a short story written by Bendis and some awesome cover art and promotional material drawn by Bendis himself.

Oh, you didn’t know Bendis drew?

I’m Rich and I just blew your mind.

Richard Bashara
Rich@ComicImpact.com