Pieces

    (5th Panel, 1995, 1997)
™ and © 1997 by Todd Richards

Pieces is a fascinating exploration into young angst and what it means to be human by writer/illustrator Todd Richards. Utilizing strikingly different artistic styles, Richards mines our own sense of fear and moral responsibility and reveals the full potential of betrayal in human relationships. In issue #1 for example, “Too Much” tells the story of Todd, who is married to Betty but in an affair with Mary and unable to reconcile his feelings for either. His turmoil, emotional fragmentation and feelings of alienation and mechanistic inevitability are beautifully captured in artwork that is as bizarre as it is enthralling. Richards renders his characters as Cubist figures composed of geometric shapes, mechanical parts, and constantly altering organs, creating a Picasso-like world of the abstract in which his characters live and breathe. Disturbing to read but intriguing nonetheless, Pieces is a mesmerizing anthology.
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