Ales Kot's Material

[xMatt]

The series is at last here, bringing with it all kinds of deconstructionist and literary critiques on the modern day! (And some pretty cool storytelling and art, as well!)

Did anyone get a chance to read it? The comic is firmly set in the present-day strata of American society. The story so far, follows a fading actress given the role of her career, a wrongfully convicted man returned from Guantanamo Bay, a young African-American boy who survives a riot and is swept up into a new revolutionary movement and an MIT professor with writer's block and the changes of the digital age. I really enjoyed it, but most of all, the little annotations at the bottom of the pages. These are things I recall from Matt Fraction's Defenders, although Kot uses these with a little more integrity and seriousness, which perfectly matches the tone.

Here are some quotes from reviews of #1, giving it high praise.

But as far as first issues go, Material delivers something rich and challenging, something that may make some readers uncomfortable. Thankfully, it emphasizes intonation and milieu, and it doesn’t fall into the trap of more recent Image #1s, where the first issue is only ever a pitch for the second issue.

"Material” #1 is ambitious, it is not a book with a message, it IS a message. In this first issue alone Ales Kot explores a great many themes and social complexities that each could sustain their own graphic meditation (which feels more fitting a description than “comic book” for something as highbrow as “Material”) but together, this is a book about desperation, about fear and control, about communication and when it stops. “Material” inspires dialogue. As a critic my piece is to say “know what you’re getting into”. As an emotionally engaged millennial I urge you to allow “Material” to give you pause, and spread it around.

In its first issue, Material achieves its goal, encompassing several uncomfortable truths that America as a society has come to breed.

[Jinjonator]

I really enjoyed the first issue. My only complaint is that I wish it had been a larger issue. The protester storyline, despite being the one I'm still most excited about, felt like a very condensed version of itself. I would've liked to see more of the protests, and more of him being detained at (and eventually leaving) Homan Square, in order to give a more in-depth look at the injustices occurring.

Really excited for the next issue though. This is definitely something special.

[xMatt]

I really enjoyed the first issue. My only complaint is that I wish it had been a larger issue. The protester storyline, despite being the one I'm still most excited about, felt like a very condensed version of itself. I would've liked to see more of the protests, and more of him being detained at (and eventually leaving) Homan Square, in order to give a more in-depth look at the injustices occurring.

Really excited for the next issue though. This is definitely something special.

Perhaps we'll get more on what happened in Homan Square through 'flashback' sequences.

I imagine that would have been an incredibly harrowing experience, more than we were given in the short space of time. However, unless Kot's personally been in Homan Square and lived through an experience or extensively researched the place, I wonder if he has the ability and knowledge to write about what happened in there. There aren't many reports, until recently, of how things are conducted, right?

[Jinjonator]

Maybe could've shown/emphasized how they hold people without charging them, longer than is constitutional, don't let lawyers or families see the people being detained, etc. But then, maybe he was thinking we'd fill in the gaps with the recommendation to google "Homan Square, black site, unlawful detention" and go from there. But still, fleshing it out more would be good for people who haven't been keeping up sufficiently on things like Ferguson and Homan Square.

[BogSurfer]

Liking it so far. Really compelling stuff. I'm sort of chomping at the bit to see the next installment, as there wasn't a lot of room in the first issue to progress the four stories along very far. And yeah, I feel like Kot dropped the Homan Square name in there for the reader to do a bit of research, as with all of the footnotes. I'll admit I did not know about it until after I read Material.

Hats off to Tom Muller as well for the cover designs.

[Joker]

Wait, this came out? I completely missed that. ****.

[Park Slope Pixie]

I love the old curmudge railing against the spectacle that he, with his euro-appointed luxury apartment and resultant job-related ennui, is so richly ingrained with.

[Flash Gordon]

I picked this up yesterday.

I liked it and I'll stick around, but I think it suffered from being too short. There was a LOT that needed to be expanded upon for effect, I thought. Interesting little book anyway though. Ales Kot always brings something interesting to the table.

[xMatt]

I love the old curmudge railing against the spectacle that he, with his euro-appointed luxury apartment and resultant job-related ennui, is so richly ingrained with.

Well, that's right - it's always easier to judge from the position of comfort, after all.

And it seems that it is those very luxuries and comforts that are holding back his writing!

What interests me is the potential for these characters to meet and crossover. They each have similarities (writer's block and the fading actress, two 'detainees') that could cause for some awesome interactions.

[Dr. Cheesesteak]

Ales Kot always brings something interesting to the table.

one of my favorite writers, I think filled w/ a bunch of brilliant ideas, even if those ideas aren't always "sensically" (there has to be a better word for that?) relayed to the reader...lol. But he mixes emotion and complex, critical thought so well.

One thing I've learned is I prefer to read his work in trade. Sorry Ales, I think that means slightly less money you get from me!

[xMatt]

Especially with something like "Material" which has quite a few threads that haven't connected yet, trades are a good idea. And especially in the "I've read one issue, it's so good and now I have to wait a month for the next one!!!"

[xMatt]

Wait, this came out? I completely missed that. ****.

#2 comes out this week, so if you can find #1 be sure to pick up both!

[xMatt]

So #2 came out and it was just as good as the first. While there were some connective threads between the different stories (mostly thematic) I felt that this issue moved a little slower than the first. However, there was enough mystery happening throughout that I was still engaged. I thought the first part of the comic, in the lecture hall, was really well done and set up the themes of the rest of the stories. The Writer seems to have the same problems as the Actress, however, they've dealt with it differently: the soul sucking nature of art has made the Writer call off his book deal, while the Actress seems to be 'selling out' ("Power! Money! Glory!") Also, the colours here were awesome!

Here are some quotes from reviews of #2.

This book is the most perceptive I’ve read in a long while. Kot forces us to think about what is happening in the book, and how it relates to our modern world—and trust me, it does. I’m not going to get into the politics of it all, because my fingers might bleed from all the typing I would do, but I will say that this book sheds an immense amount of light on recent events and situations that we all have either seen, heard of, or been a part of. This book will make you THINK. With that, I pay my respects to the people whose names are mentioned in this book, and I trust that you all know a good comic book when you see one; pick this up, and get Google open to do some research as you read this phenomenal, socially accurate, heartbreaking, brutally honest series.

“Material” is not going to be for everyone, that’s for certain. The zine-inspired, stripped down attitude to art that favours substance over style and raw emotional [sic] over commercial packaging means that this is an abrasive kind of comic that is not going to sit well with everyone. It’s a comic with an agenda. It’s a method through which Ales Kot, Will Tempest and Tom Muller can yell their frustrations with the world into the void and hope it can connect with someone. And I can say it connected with me. Despite everything that should be held against this book, I am swept up in the emotions poured into each page. The heart that went into creating this work as a way of looking at the world around us and wanting change what we see is palpable. “Material” is a gut punch of a comic book. It’s a molotov cocktail smashing against a riot shield. It’s tear gas on a main street. It’s a riot. And not the fun kind.

I wasn’t as impressed by the art in Material as I thought I was going to be. Ales is usually great at selecting his artists but this one seems a poor fit. The linework seems stiff and un-lifelike, which taxes the action and spirit of the book a touch. That being said, the colors are terrific, from dry grays to sunset oranges to a beautiful contrast of navy and yellow for the scenes taking place in the city ... It’s certainly good. Although this book hasn’t won me over quite as quickly as some of Ales’s other works, I’m definitely enjoying it more as it progresses.

There are some of the stories for these characters that I actually do not care for, it really is not for lack of trying, but just a lack of interest, which is kind of sad as I would like to like the title. In this issue you have, right from the start, a massive name drop in the comic book industry, but not even this could save the title for me. Much like how the first story arc of Trees was, there are possibly too many storylines and different characters being introduced too soon to get any connection to a character. When titles do not have an obvious plot with characters and the storylines just flowing along I find to be less interested in and on a slower build up. Will the title improve? Possibly. Ales Kot is without a doubt a great writer and deserves credit for this title being different from everything else out there. Maybe it is that difference that is making it harder to take than other titles.

[johnmahananda]

This is a nice book...very interesting...

[Jinjonator]

Got my hands on #2. Really enjoyed it. It's still a slow build (inevitable, I suppose, since it's 4 stories in one comic), but I'm looking forward to seeing where all it goes.