You & Me Remembering

So Buttons 14

Nostalgia. A perfume that Alan Moore teased us with in Watchmen. A dangerous force that points us towards an unobtainable past that never existed. An essential part of being human that keeps love alive and people in our lives long after they are gone.

The latest issue of Jonathan Baylis’ So Buttons is really a book of two parts. One part deals with those sometimes awkward moments of meeting those people who are famous and successful. In the world of comics these people are almost entirely anonymous outside of the occasional comic con – they can browse the grocery store free from interruption, paparazzi don’t wait for them outside the doors of glamorous night-clubs.

Four panels from a comic book — Art by Brian Box Brown

But to the fan they are everything. Jonathan might not quite meet Pamela Anderson…and it is hard to explain now just how globally famous she was for a time in the 80’s and 90’s – maybe the most famous person on the planet. But he does get to meet my hero Jaime Hernandez and Pamela’s polar opposite, Canadian comics legend Chester Brown. I recently binged on Chester’s work and get it entirely. And hey, with a movie of his distinctly odd, unsettling prostitution themed book Paying For It on the way maybe Chester will be the new Pamela.

The other side of the book is the other side of nostalgia. The personal side. Jonathan brilliantly evokes the childhood recollection of comics, friends and family. His earliest memory of holding his mothers hand and also a copy of Famous Monsters of Filmland was genuinely moving. He writes of loss and how we deal with it. With our love and our memories. With our nostalgia.

Five panels from a comic book — Art by T. J Kirsch

As with the other issues of So Buttons, we have an American Splendor style variety of artists in the book. From the work of Brian Box Brown which brilliantly reduces characters almost to icons of emojis, like the Simpsons but somehow even more yellow. I also loved the work of T.J. Kirsch who illustrates two stories. Karl Christian Krumpholz with his characterful sweeping lines and use of panels to convey drama and also more sombre moods is powerful in the moving story ‘Take a Penny’. I also adore Ayoko Nito’s Gothamesque back page.

BTW you are wrong about Love and Rockets Jonathan, sorry. But what do I know? I haven’t even seen Barb Wire.

This issue is Kickstarting now. Go check it out! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sobuttonscomics/so-buttons-life-and-death