Beat The Rust
Comic, Kelly Fruh, 32 pgs, etsy.com/shop/StewBrewComix, $8
Told in brief, deft, vignettes, Beat The Rust is the story of a woman named Ann’s descent into isolation and hoarding that’s exacerbated by a sexual assault. Mainly composed of nine panel grids and revealing splash pages, Fruh’s cartooning is elegant with smooth round shapes and ink wash that adds a depth. An accessible, utilitarian style.
Our protagonist, Ann, is a nondescript everywoman. She has a college degree. She’s close with her mother and grandma. She has friends, goes shopping, goes to the movies. Normal things. Young Ann takes a job at a movie theatre where her older male manager is playful and flirty, seemingly harmless. She takes this as friendliness and camaraderie in an otherwise dull job. A way to pass the time. But when “Ann Is Taken to the Roof”, her ambitious manager, on the brink of leaving for LA, takes advantage of her trust. He gropes Ann and slips a hand down her pants. The scene is shocking. The confident line and comfortable style of Froh’s drawing makes the violence all the more jarring.
Initially shocked, Ann has the wherewithal to jam an elbow into his abdomen and run. After we see Ann slowly retreat from her life. Calls are ignored, packages pile up and clutter eventually surrounds her in her living space. Panels filled with toys, food packaging, trash and liquor boxes overwhelm Ann and become the focus of every panel. All the while Ann’s assailant has a successful Hollywood career. She catches him years later accepting an award on TV. Thanking his wife and daughter. Blissfully unaware or uncaring of the harm he’s caused. The nonlinear fashion in which the story unfolds is really the key to its strength. Glimpses of disparate times in the protagonist’s life before and after the inciting incident. Life doesn’t unfold in a neat narrative, neither does Beat The Rust.