Reviewing the Mail: Week of 10/2/21

Two books this week, both of which came from the library.

Eight-Lane Runaways is a graphic novel by Henry McCausland, and I must have heard about it somewhere. I mean, I put it on hold at the library, right? I guess it's possible that I was browsing the library's graphic novels and just grabbed it because it was published last year by Fantagraphics: that's a decent indication that I'd find it interesting and/or that it's worth reading. But I have no memory of reading about it anywhere.

The book itself is some kind of surreal, with eight runners with odd names (Blaise Ayonnaise, Koklakola, Bobby Blackberries) in the middle of some kind of race, which does not seem to be explained. I'm fine with weird, as long as it works. So I'll see if this one works.

And then there's Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns & Moonage Daydreams, something of a biography of the singer/songwriter. The credits are a bit arch, but I think they mean the script was by Michael Allred and Steve Horton, the art was by Allred, and colors by Laura Allred. This is not entirely straightforward - there seems to be some kind of psychedelic freakout near the end - but it seems to mostly be a story of real people with their real faces doing the things they did in real life.

I'm not sure the world needs the comics biography of any musician, especially a super-popular, well-documented one - the form seems badly matched to the matter - but no one asks me whether a book should exist or not before making it. (And that would be a bad idea, actually: asking me or any one person.)