Dylan Horrocks' Hicksville, published over a decade ago is one of my reference graphic novels. Horrocks just released a new, chunky graphic novel entitled Magic Pen. To say I (and presumably others) have been waiting for this for a long time would be an understatement.
Hicksville was a graphic novel about comics, relying on varying narrative methods, and was at times a bit of a rough read, especially considering Horrocks' talent wasn't quite as honed then as it is now. Magic Pen, in a different way, is also a graphic novel on comics. Where Hicksville was a kind of introverted road movie though, Magic Pen is much more playful and extrovert.
It all starts with Sam Zabel's voracious blank page anxiety. Sam is a comic book writer. He works for mainstream comics to put food on the table, but finds no joy or glory in it. That's when he manages to produce even a line of script. His creative depression is turning into a depression full stop, and his couple starts to wobble as a consequence. Sam Zabel is really not well.
During a literary convention he's invited to make a speech at, he meets Alice Brown, a young cartoonist who shows him an old comic title from the 50s, "The Queen of Mars", writted by a New-Zealand author Sam has never heard about. He is so intrigued that he ends up literally plunging into these Martian stories.
I won't say any more in order not to spoil, but let's just say that Sam is going to rediscover the medium of comics from a different angle, and on this journey, rediscover himself. The magic of Magic Pen is that it's really an adventure, with all the classic elements of action stories, even though the constantly shifting backdrop brings a more thoughtful counterpoint on the diversity of the medium and the tropes that it (too often) carries. It leads in a quite subtle way to questions on the mysoginy of some of its sub-genres, the approach to sexuality in comics, the importance of narrative structures, and many more topics not often raised in graphic novels.
This may give you the feeling that Magic Pen is a brainy and boring book, but it's not, really not: the one is light, it's funny, tense, and moving at times. It's also immersive, beautiful (thanks to Dylan's very assured hand and the beautiful coloring) and fantastically structured. It's also NSFW at times, so don't buy it for your nephews and nieces before having read it yourself.
In summary, Magic Pen is in my opinion a pretty major book, a unidentifiable comic object, more accessible than Hicksville (though I still recommend Hicksville strongly.) It's a book that will stand the test of time beyond the entertainment it delivers, a deep story that manages to stay light. Very highly recommended.
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