It's a mystery to me how some illustrators using a catoonish style can create art that is crude or amateurish, while others can create work that not only obtains a high degree of verisimilitude, but is appealing in its own right. Kerry Callen easily falls into the latter category. In his collection Halo and Sprocket, Callen uses my favourite style: thick lines, solid shapes, and no obsessive detailing. In fact, he often drops the backgrounds altogether, which is entirely appropriate for such a dialogue-driven series.

Halo and Sprocket live with a young woman named Katie. No explanation is given for the arrangement, nor does anybody else seem perturbed by the presence of an angel and a robot. Callen takes advantage of the internal logic of comic books, not bothering to provide exposition when none is necessary. There is no overall narrative; Halo and Sprocket is more a series of vignettes in which Sprocket tries to understand the strange phrases and concerns of humans. This may sound like a cliché, but the writing is funny and original (so far, thankfully, there hasn't been a story in which Sprocket asks, "What is love?")

It's expected that Sprocket would provide some of the humour, trying as he does to understand illogical things that we take for granted. But it's Halo who's the real surprise here. Callen sidesteps our expectations by creating an angel that in no way resembles the cheesy, life-affirming versions we always get from Hollywood. Halo is an old-style angel, one who can be both righteous and deadly. Some of the best lines revolve around his characterization, as when Sprocket casually asks him: "May I borrow your flaming sword of vengeance"; or when Halo responds to a telemarketer with "I AM ONE CANNOT BE NAMED! YOUR FRAIL, SHALLOW REALM CANNOT CONTAIN IT!"

The first story in this collection sets the tone perfectly. When Katie asks if a glass is half empty or half full, her simple question triggers a discussion in which she gets a series of unexpected answers: