Clumsy

(Top Shelf, 2003)
™ and © Top Shelf

Presumably, Brown’s intended meaning for the book’s title was in reference to his awkward early relationship with his girlfriend Theresa. But anyone glancing through it will derive another meaning entirely, once they get a look at the second-grade illustrations that only can be called art for lack of a better term.

This graphic novel is basically Brown’s journal in sequential-art format. But his careless execution makes it appear as though he’d never intended it to reach anyone outside of his bedroom. Clumsy, indeed. Either someone broke into his house and stole the material à la Pamela and Tommy Lee’s home video, or he somehow truly believed that people would want to ogle repeated scribblings of him in intimate positions with his girl.

Enough bashing. Although it looks like a series of naughty pictures drawn in the back of a textbook during study hall, patient readers will find this book is actually a mildly compelling chronicle of Brown’s relationship, at least in a voyeuristic, I-shouldn’t-be-reading-this way. But at more than 200 pages, it’s more of an exercise in perseverance than enjoyment. Not for art lovers.

— Jim Johnson

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