|
Author
|
Topic: Review - Pedro and Me
|
Dave Thomer
Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy
|
posted 12-22-2000 03:26 AM
   
Judd Winick has been steadily building a career for himself in underground comics, and he's currently the writer of DC's Green Lantern title, but he is probably still better known to the public at large as That Guy From The Real World. He combines the two "careers", as it were, in Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned, the story of his friendship with fellow castmates Pedro Zamora and Pam Ling. Since Pedro died of AIDS shortly after the San Francisco season of the show finished production, this had the potential to fall into the trap of being A Very Special Comic, but it doesn't.Part of the reason is that Winick is a really good writer. Because the book relies heavily on narration and because so much of the story is about relationships and communication, the dialogue has to carry the book a great deal, and Winick is very good at that. He has to cover a wide time frame in one book, so he has to get the personalities of the main characters across in a few vignettes, and he does. The relationship between Pedro and Judd, for example, comes across as very real -- they seem like guys that became close buddies in a hurry. And they both have great wit and humor, which comes across clearly in the dialogue and narration. At the same time, the conversations between Judd and Pam as Pedro's death draws nearer are very human, emotional without becoming cloying or overly dramatic. (And I just noticed I seem to be using "Judd" to refer to Judd Winick as a character in the story and "Winick" to refer to Judd Winick as the writer/artist of this book. I'm going to take that as a sign of how well the writer/artist got me to connect with the people in the book.) I don't want to take away from Winick's skill as an artist, though. He definitely has a cartoony style that has its roots in the newspaper strips he admired and aspired to draw, but it works well at showing emotion and expression on people's faces. His facial expressions, in particular, are outstanding, and while the art is for the most part straightforward, he does take advantage of the comic form to illustrate some of the thoughts and images he had in his head at the beginning of his Real World experience -- I particularly liked his visualization of his fear that he'd be living with "HIV with legs". This is not just a book for comics fans, although it's a good example of the autobiographical comic. This is a book for anybody who likes to read about real people in circumstances we all pray we never have to face. (Edited to add Amazon.com link) [This message has been edited by Dave Thomer (edited 12-22-2000).] |
Pattie Gillett
True Believer
|
posted 12-22-2000 07:26 AM
I read this in less than an hour and spent the rest of the hour starting to read it again. Oddly enough, despite the subject matter, I did not find the book to be very depressing. There was a subtle optimism about it. Great stuff.
Winick is exceptionally talented and something about his art and language is very open and understated, making his style very accessible for newbies. I'm looking forward to reading the Barry Ween stuff. I'm sorry I haven't been following Green Lantern more closely lately to see how he's been directing that title, Perhaps someone who has (er, Brian) can shed some light. OK, the spell checker just tried to change Winick to Finicky which I think is just strange. |
Dave Thomer
Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy
|
posted 12-29-2000 07:47 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Pattie Gillett:
Oddly enough, despite the subject matter, I did not find the book to be very depressing. There was a subtle optimism about it. Great stuff.
While I agree with the subtle optimism and the great stuff comments, I found the depiction of Pedro's last weeks, when a brain disorder robbed him of the ability to use language, to be quite depressing, but that may just be my own little quirk. |
Kevin Ott
True Believer
|
posted 01-03-2001 01:36 AM
More than anything else, this book made me want to know Pedro Zamora. The third chapter, which described Pedro's life up to the point where he met Judd, pulled me in like nothing else. To live through that kind of hardship, and then die from AIDS-related illness... It's more than I could bear.The cartoony nature of the art was a tough issue for me. It made it somewhat more difficult to relate to the serious subject matter, but on the other hand, it provided a nice counterpoint, and made me realize that the pleasantries in life go on, despite the tragedies. As it is, it sometimes seems like the only thing people remember about season three of TRW was that Puck was a total jerk (I caught the episode where they threw him out on a rerun a few weeks ago -- lord, what a horse's ass). It's nice to see that the show, which deserves some critical acclaim for not being totally vapid, was able to produce something more -- namely, an opportunity for people like Pedro and Judd to tell their stories. |
Dave Thomer
Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy
|
posted 01-03-2001 02:30 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Kevin Ott:The cartoony nature of the art was a tough issue for me. It made it somewhat more difficult to relate to the serious subject matter, but on the other hand, it provided a nice counterpoint, and made me realize that the pleasantries in life go on, despite the tragedies.
Interesting . . . it kinda sounds like you're implying that "cartoony" art can't or doesn't depict serious emotion well. Am I off base here? I'm not sure if I agree or disagree . . . just kind of musing out loud. I thought the moments of sadness were well-conveyed by the art, but the moments of humor may have been a little stronger. I'm not sure. |
Kevin Ott
True Believer
|
posted 01-03-2001 03:39 AM
I guess that I'm used to associating cartoony art with comic strips and political cartoons, which can easily address serious subject matter, but usually seem to do it through satire. There wasn't much satire in Pedro and Me, so it kind of threw me. You'd think fifteen years of reading For Better or For Worse would have prepared me. |
Dave Thomer
Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy
|
posted 01-03-2001 03:56 AM
I hadn't thoguth of the cartoony-satire link. I think I was thinking of the more poignant moments in Calvin & Hobbes, myself. Damn, Bill Watterston was a frickin' genius. |
Dave Thomer
Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy
|
posted 01-29-2001 09:55 PM
Judd's website has a lot of good stuff, including several passages that didn't make it intothe final version of Pedro and Me. They're rough and unfinished, but well worth looking at. I especially recommend the section called "Limitations.(Edited because although someday I will avoid using an /i tag to try to close out a link, today was not that day.) [This message has been edited by Dave Thomer (edited 01-29-2001).] | |
This Is Not News Forums
UBBFriend: Email This Page to Someone! 
