Black Star #4
Jeff’s personal journey to find out What It All Means continues in this issue, as he takes a walk with Peter to learn the value of art. Is it still art if nobody sees it? Peter also points out the demoralizing fact that it’s possible to understand and appreciate good comics without necessarily being able to produce them yourself. My earlier suspicions about Hicksville being an influence here are confirmed, which is probably more than I should say, but you’re going to buy this anyway, right? At some point in the future some rich comics fan has to put together an actual Hicksville, even if it’s just a library. What a wonderful place that would be. Also in this issue is the story of Jenny, a young woman starting a new office job who doesn’t even have the “comfort” of being shielded by a cubicle. It’s short compared to the meat of the comic, but it’s a wonderfully sad little story about trying to fit in at an office when you don’t know the new rules. Anybody who’s been following the main story knows that this is well worth picking up, as I think it’s one of the more fascinating ongoing stories in the last couple of years in comics. Now all he has to do is wrap things up by giving satisfactory answers to all the questions he’s posing about meaning, art, commerce and when it’s OK to quit and everything will be dandy. Nothing complicated about any of that, right? $2
