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Blindspot
Posted 05 Apr 2007
Writer: Kevin C. Pyle
Artist: Kevin C. Pyle
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
5.00 out of 5 Stars
Reviewed by Hueso Taveras
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Author Kevin Pyle is familiar with the theme of war and its effects
on Americans. He explored this is in his previous works in World
War 3 Illustrated and in one of his own graphic novels, Eye of
God. In Blindspot, he focuses on the vivid war fantasies of
an American suburban boy.
Pyle does an excellent job of avoiding
clichés, condescending dialogue and stereotypes, and creates an
inviting and evocative story.
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Dean shared many adventures with his three friends Glenn, Todd and
John. The boys’ favorite game was soldiers and their theater of
operations lay in the backwoods just outside Dean’s home. They lay
under railroad tracks as trains whizzed above their heads and played
capture-the-flag with an old woman’s underwear. Floundering in grammar
school and facing parental restrictions on his TV watching, Dean
retreats further from stifling suburban life and into his military
fantasies, seeing every confrontation with authorities as another
combat operation. The pressures of reality mount as the boys’ play
leads them to destroy a homeless man’s handmade shack and to a stash
of porn magazines. Looking for more, Dean gets caught raiding a
neighbor’s garage and faces harsh repercussions in school. After
seeing graphic depictions of war in a library book, egged into a fight
with a boy he barely knows and drifting from his friends, Dean faces
his increasingly consuming fantasies in the face of a harsh world.
The author uses simple line drawings and single-color washes, a
popular technique in indie comics. Pyle uses the power of color to
elicit feeling and create atmosphere in his scenes. Dean’s suburban
world is rendered in monochromatic washes of light teal and sky blue.
The four boys travel through their theater of operations in
camouflage-green, the color of Dean’s introspection and happy moments.
When confronting enemies, the story shifts to four-color combat scenes
right out of 1950s Sgt. Rock comics.
Although the theme is simple, Pyle’s book is anything but. Dean is
an intelligently written character trapped in his war fantasies. Pyle
does an excellent job of avoiding clichés, condescending
dialogue and stereotypes, and creates an inviting and evocative story.
Due to the proliferation of the superhero genre, comics are
synonymous with juvenile entertainment. Blindspot uses this
fact to explore the dichotomy of fantasy and reality, a theme that
should resonate with our fantasy-driven society. This book comes out
at a great time, coinciding with copious ads for the Navy, Marines,
and US Army littering the latest adventures of our favorite web
slinger, mighty mutants, and dark knights. Blindspot is a
worthwhile addition to any collection, and should be required reading
for anyone who’s ever dreamed of being a war hero.
—CCdC—
Cover image used without explicit permission in accordance with the "Fair Use" provision of US copyright law.
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