Life of Vice #1
Robin is taking a break from the Jam in the Band series to flesh out one of the characters from that series (and change up the style a bit, as he was getting sick of the documentary style of making comics): Becky Vice. I’ve only the first of the two books out (so far) from that series, but she didn’t ring any bells for me. Of course, I also read it a couple of years ago, and the chances of me remembering a side character from that among all the comics I read is slim indeed. Anyway, the first book of this series is all told as flashbacks, as Becky Vice is being interviewed by a college reporter on their way to her hosting the American Pornography Awards (quite possibly not a real thing). It’s clear from the opening panel that Robin is going in a bit of a different direction, as it’s a clear homage to the opening scene in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (by Hunter… aw, screw you if you don’t know about that book). Robin has also decided to take away the panels, which really opens up the feeling of the book. The interviewer quickly learns that the best way to get Becky to open up about herself is for her to open up about HER life, and this issue details the childhood of Becky, how she got out of a repressive (but loving) childhood, her early days drinking in trailer parks, and how she eventually got her band started. There’s music playing constantly during these stories (as the whole thing takes place in the car as they’re going to the awards show), so feel free to award yourself some bonus cool points if you can guess the songs. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Robin took the Gonzo style of reporting and made it his own, which is something many people have tried over the years and so very few of them have succeeded. He explains this at the end so it feels like cheating, but this is not thinly veiled autobio, and that was very clear even before his afterward. And I thought that picture of Becky detailing all her injuries looked an awful lot like the back cover for Have A Nice Day by Mick Foley! He took interviews (known to him as “drunken conversations”) and built them up into a believable and realistic life story for two young women. There’s another issue that he sent along with this, so I’ll get an even clearer picture of this series, but there is certainly not a thing wrong with this first issue. $3
