A Trip to the Store for Nosferatu
Comic, Grisso, 32 pgs., enigmaticlabs.com, $3
When you’re a consummate outsider, even the easy stuff is hard. Such is the case for Nosferatu, among the creepiest of classic, blood-guzzling horror characters, who in this story merely craves a late night carton of milk. Grisso’s illustrations are impressive. His crisp, square, black and white panels draw the reader in to this hilarious comic. The dialogue, all over a grocery store checkout counter, is terrific. In a clever touch, Nosferatu’s dialogue is in medieval gothic script. Attempting to wield the “magic” of his debit card, Nosferatu, blood-sucking terrorizer that he is, is chastened by the mundane reality of insufficient funds.Should we feel sorry for the guy? Let’s face it: he is not a sympathetic character. Perhaps we can revel in the symbolism of quasi-justice for literal bloodsuckers (symbolizing figurative ones – i.e. the One Percent) made to run the gauntlet of our own everyday dehumanizations. How often are we turned away, empty-handed, denied the milk that we deserve? But he is Nosferatu. I’d rather have him drinking from a milk carton than from my veins. Pick this one up from Grisso and devise your own symbolic hidden meanings. (Joshua Barton)