Flood!

    (Dark Horse, 2002)
™ and © Dark Horse Comics, Inc.

Despite its subtitle, “A Novel in Pictures,” Flood! is actually three novellas in pictures, each dealing with the main character of New York City. Sure, there are human protagonists in each tale, but make no mistake, this book is about the city.

The artwork in this book is tantamount to urban cave paintings. Author Eric Drooker’s style is sort of Peter Kuper by way of Edvard Munch; it’s an emotionally packed chronicle of loneliness in a crowd.

Half of the power of Drooker’s art comes not from what’s in the panels, but the manner in which he utilizes the elements of comics. In the first story, “Home,” the panel size decreases (and panel-per-page count increases) as the star’s desperation intensifies. In the title story, the spot coloring (blue) differentiates between the real life of an artist and the action in a strip he is creating.

This book is the 10th-anniversary re-issue of an award-winning work. Sadly, as excellent as it is (and it is), it lacks the novelty it probably once had and may appear derivative of works that actually followed it. (Kuper’s The System comes to mind.) Nevertheless, Flood! strongly stands on its merits.

— Jack Abramowitz
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