A conundrum

One of my best friends Fu-zu is visiting this week. We've been having a lot of fun, and thanks to her my credit card bill will be enormous this month. We stopped by the comic book shop around here to see what new/old/fascinating/underappreciated works were out there to enjoy. While there I noticed a book called Kabuki by David Mack (creator of daredevil as well). I was flipping through and was amazed at how gorgeous the art was. Each page was sensual and vibrant and practically sucked in the eyes with rich details and gorgeous colors. What amazed me the most was that the art style seemed to vary so wildly from page to page. Sometimes water colors, sometimes charcoals, mixes of colored pencils, and then full paintings. The pages never seemed to fit into any sort of normal comic layout either. While boxes could occasionaly be seen, they were never intended to take you linearly through the story. I couldn't find any other artist that I would compare this two, althought there were dfinitely elements that i recognized from others. The way some hand drawn shots were framed with ordinary real world material reminded me a lot of the works that Dave McKean does, especially in work with The Sandman dustcovers. I would have bought it no matter what, but based on Fu-zu's recommendation it was a must.

Unfortunately, I can't read it yet! I didn't pay attention and the book I picked up (Metamorphosis) is the 5th in the series. Sigh... now I have to wait until tomorrow till I can pick up the first book. And... it's... so... tough... trying... not... to... read... it... and... spoil... it... for... later...

Anyways, when i do get through the first I'll let you know what I think. If it has a story to match the art (or somehow exceed it), this will have the chance to usurp all my previous favorites.