Schhh!

(Fantagraphics, 2002)
™ and © Fantagraphics Books, Inc.

Jason (no last name reported) shows Marvel (and the rest of us) how to do silent stories in this volume of poignant and evocative short stories. What’s even more noteworthy than the absence of dialogue is the choice of characters: “funny” animals that aren’t so funny.

Our protagonist is an anthropomorphic crow (raven? mynah? magpie?) who stumbles through life with a deadpan expression on his face. Either he is incapable of expressing happiness or there just isn’t anything to be happy about, even in the so-called “good” times.

While some of his adventures step into the realm of the fantastic, such as spontaneous invisibility, most of the tales just deal with life and relationships. The reader will have no problem empathizing; our hero is a sort of an “Everycrow.” Getting the reader to identify with a silent, pokerfaced cartoon bird is no small accomplishment.

To get such pathos and feeling out of such minimalist and potentially restrictive storytelling tools is a significant accomplishment. Schhh! may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it is definitely worth a look.

— Jim Johnson

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