Mince

Mince
Written and Illustrated by: fsc
Mature Readers
Released by: Neko Press

Looking at the cover I’m not really sure what to think of this issue.  The artist is just known by initials and the artwork…looks like something from an anime series.  So this is probably one of those comics that I wouldn’t normally pick up, but…it is interesting read.  It reminds me a lot of the “Johnny the Dead Homicidal Maniac” series by Jhonen Vasquez in terms of the dark sense of humor displayed within it.

This is a rather dark tale of a young boy literally being haunted by his inner demons.  He continues to try to kill himself, but that’s when the demons really show up in full force. They torture him and drag him from place to place all to make his life miserable.  His family doesn’t understand him and thinks that he’s just crazy.  He tries to commit suicide again and the doctor rebukes him for causing so much pain to his parents.  And the demons?  They wait around for the next time.

The writing style is rather lose and really in this issue the artwork carries most of the story.  I think that maybe what I like better about this issue than Jhonen Vasquez’s work.  It doesn’t depend as much on the written word to survive.  It is however, particularly dark, especially at the end and so I wouldn’t say this story is for everyone.  That being said the author does an excellent job of capturing some of the emotions and feelings of a teenager.  That sense of being overwhelmed by internal voices and not being sure of what’s going on or who’s doing what, it’s quite powerful.

The art style in this issue is heavily influenced by the manga/anime genre, with the way the characters eyes and hairstyles look to the way they move around the page.  It also reminds me a bit of Hayao Miyazaki the way some of the characters look, they just have his iconic feel and touch to them in some ways.  But fsc adds her own flair to the style and makes it her own.  Her use of the graphite pencils as the medium adds a nice unearthly feel to the artwork that fits well with the stories.  Most of the panels are composed and balanced, but…sometimes her style does get away from her and she tries to cram to much into her artwork, which makes it difficult to pick out what’s going on.

Overall it’s definitely an interesting issue.  I can’t say that its something I would pick up again, but I would recommend this comic to fans of Jhonen Vasquez and that type of work.