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Clotfelter, Max – The Elements of Rough #2
The Elements of Rough #2
For anybody who missed the last issue (or the last review), this series is dedicated to answering the question of why Max’s comics are perceived as being “so rough.” Meaning that he’s telling the story of his life, or at least the interesting/relevant bits. Last time around we got a good look at his father, this time around we spend some time with his mother and sister. And a few of the assorted people who were in their orbits when Liz had her 35th birthday party, which is the star of the comic. We see the terror that Beth (his girlfriend at the time) showed at the idea of being at a party with his family, how much booze goes into planning such a thing, the efforts made to help Liz get help with her sobriety (making it odd indeed that their was so much booze at the party, but her mother was a terrible enabler), and finally Liz’s boyfriend, who was also an ex of her mother. There’s oddly little drama over that last fact, which is odd, at least to me. But the guy got her a rabid raccoon for her birthday, and that went about as well as you might expect. There’s more to the party and to the people at the party than I’m sharing here, but hey, a journey of discovery means that you have to have something left to discover, right? Check it out, if you have questions about Max or his comics this series is an invaluable peek into how it all started. $3
Clotfelter, Max – The Elements of Rough #1
The Elements of Rough #1
Finally, it’s the secret origin story of Max! OK, sure, he’s done autobiographical comics before. But Max had a simple conceit for this one: to answer all of the people who are constantly asking him why his comics have to be “so rough.” Since I’ve literally had friends come by, see his comics and ask me variations of the same question, he’s clearly not exaggerating how often he gets asked this question. The answer is a little more simple than you might have guessed: because he’s been surrounded by a colorful cast of characters his entire life. His father was quick to make friends with weirdos and slow to kick people out who were just looking to drink for a few days, leading Max to a childhood with his parents bailing friends out of jail, regular drinking and driving by all concerned, and running into an inmate that Max knew as he was cleaning a local library in his prison uniform. The nexus for all sorts of craziness ended up being a seedy liquor store that Max’s father owned, leading to even more colorful characters. Eh, “colorful” might imply “wacky” or “harmless,” and a few of these characters seem perfectly capable of doing harm. It’s an interesting story and it explains a few things, but Max promises that things get even weirder in the next issue, so there’s that to look forward to. If you’re a fan of his work it’s pretty much mandatory to get this comic, and if you’ve never read his stuff this is as good an introduction and anything. So basically you should buy this one either way, with the only exception being if you’re a terrible person who hates comics and only reads these reviews to torture yourself about all the unregulated art going on in the world. Hey, if it can be imagined, somebody on the internet is doing it…
