Comics Splurge: Michael DeForge
This will be an ongoing segment of Harris’ Tome Corner devoted to sequential art; you know, comics, graphic novels, or whatever you want to call them. Lately, I’ve kind of been focusing on one cartoonist and tracking down all of their work I can get my hands on. I’ve enjoyed this method of steeping myself in one creator’s output.
Over the last year or so, I’ve devoured all of Canadian cartoonist Michael DeForge’s works of comic art available from my library system and was, all in all, intrigued. I think I first heard of him through his work as a designer for Adventure Time, which, with the show’s mix of surreal and cute imagery, makes perfect sense to me. His output is amazingly prolific as well, he seems to be publishing at least one book a year throughout most of the decade.
It is very impressive just how weird, innovative, and idiosyncratic DeForge’s cartooning is, with each comic often being very different while still having a consistent, recognizable style. This versatility and willingness to experiment makes it very interesting to follow the evolution of his oeuvre, from earlier stuff in Lose and other pieces collected in Very Casual, A Western World, and Dressing to more developed stories in First Year Healthy, Big Kids, and Sticks Angelica, Folk Hero.
DeForge’s artwork, his eye for the strange and the mundane alike, often abstract and fluid but with an evocative use of details as well complements his empathetic writing, grounded in relatable human emotions and concerns. Whether we are dealing with ants, slug deer, trees, mosquitoes, squirrels, or humans, there is always something that grounds it in contemporary fears and desires, usually in a funny, if often unsettling, way. Many of his works draw deeply from body horror as well as a deliciously offbeat sense of humor, a mix that often seems to work. From the disturbing conformist tyranny of Ant Colony, to the hilarious art satire of Brat, in which a 33-year old juvenile delinquent hires her own intern, there is usually something recognizable in our own lives.
Bizarre and heartfelt, dark but never cynical, Michael DeForge may now be my favorite artist working today, especially after completing his latest comic, Leaving Richard’s Valley, an exploration of gentrification and attempting to escape from that in our current world. Erstwhile cult leader Richard and his band of humans and animals try for a utopia in a city park, while struggling to balance their individuality within the good of the community. Each member of the band is sympathetic and understandably awful, in a way that feels all too real. That DeForge posted this one panel at a time on Instagram over the course of a year was especially impressive.
In all cases, DeForge’s writing invites much to consider.