Percy Gloom

(Fantagraphics, 2007)
™ and © 2007 Fantagraphics Books, Inc.

Cathy Malkasian’s Percy Gloom seems at first an odd book about a maladjusted man with a lightbulb for a head that dreams of writing safety warnings as a career and has a strange fixation with his mother. Once one gets a little deeper into this graphic novel, though, the beauty of this work becomes clear: Percy Gloom is all about life. Percy is beset on all sides by people with different outlooks on the right way to live—some (like his employers) want to sterilize it, others (like his female acquaintance Tammy) want it to never end, while others still (like his ex-girlfriend Lila) cannot wait to escape it. This is a pretty heavy work, and deals with themes of religious zealotry, suicide, and immortality, as Percy’s family lineage has given him both the imperative to kill himself once he bears a child (as his forefathers have), but also the option of living forever, like his mother can. Throughout the course of this work, Percy must negotiate between these different perspectives, and find the one that allows him to truly live. Malkasian’s artwork, done completely in pencil, wonderfully compliments this story, as does its excellent book-style presentation courtesy of Fantagraphic Books.

— Eric Garneau

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#1

June, 2007
Cover Price: $18.95
2 copies available from $15.30

Cathy Malkasian