Comic, Jai Granofsky, [email protected]
Little Men in Little Boxes contains two science fiction stories, the first about a guy who is in love with a woman from the literal future. They communicate through the internet, somehow, using an interface that looks a lot like Google Chat. “She hasn’t even been conceived,” he laments to a skeptical friend. Later he is, somehow, able to physically pass through his computer screen into the future where they embrace for the first time. The second story is about two boys who find a spaceship that crashed in the woods near their houses. The ship resembles an old-school charcoal barbecue, and the alien who emerges looks like an overripe pear with Mr. Potato Head eyes and a long, phallic nose. He identifies himself as Jeeves, and it becomes clear he wants only to be their servant, as he meticulously tidies their tree house and offers to serve as the boys’ new bartender, inspiring them to throw cocktail parties and invite the other neighbourhood kids. But that’s not all: when Jeeves is drunk he sheds his pear-shaped form and morphs into the British actor Michael Caine. As awesome as all that sounds, this comic seemed like artwork in search of a story. The drawings are careful and intricate, but the narratives felt slapped together, as though the author chose a bunch of random ideas without much thought about what makes an effective narrative. (Mary Green)