Baker tells this tale with almost no words at all, letting the images unspool like a nightmare. As the series progresses, Baker mixes his art with text excerpts from The Confession of Nat Turner. Nat Turner isn't easy to read, full of horrible brutality against slaves. (With the concluding half likely to be even more graphic.) It's the polar opposite of the warm 'n' fuzzy Bakers, but it's full of truth - and frankly, this ugly time in American history needs to be remembered every once in a while. Baker slaps you in the face with the evil of slavery; it's harsh, unforgettable stuff.
Here's my picks for five of Kyle Baker's best:
1. Nat Turner. Although only half-finished, this is clearly one of Baker's crowning achievements - rich, angry, impressionistic, turning history into passionate art.
2. Why I Hate Saturn – A fine sample of Baker's earlier work, it's a strange adventure tale about a curmudgeonly young woman, but the heart of the book lies in Baker's knowing, bitingly funny dialogue and humor about the relationships between men and women. Full of "yeah, man, that's it!" moments.
3. Plastic Man – This series from DC Comics, recently ended, took a loving poke at superheroics through a reimagining of the classic comic book character. Who better than Baker to illustrate the mutating, surreal world of Plastic Man?
4. Kyle Baker: Cartoonist Vol. 1 – To sample Baker's lighter side, this is an excellent primer, combining his "Bakers" cartoons with a miscellany of other short-form humor strips.
5. The Cowboy Wally Show – Wacky and unhinged, it's a loose parody of Saturday morning kids' shows, but with a heaping helping of satire thrown in from "Hamlet" to French Foreign Legion movies. With a knife-sharp wit and some fantastic one-liners, it's another one of Baker's early treats.
You can find much of Baker's work at amazon.com; single issues and more can also be found at your well-stocked local comic book shops. Check out www.kylebaker.com for more from the pen of Kyle Baker.
Article comments