By: David Hahn (creator, writer, art) & Aditya Bidikar (letters)
The Story: A directionless 20-ish girl struggles with life problems in this slice of life comic. She has a lousy on-again, off-again boyfriend, money problems, roommate problems and a couple of dark secrets….
What’s Good: Well, we really need more slice-of-life comics. I really do enjoy my superheroes, but they are kinda the cheeseburgers of comics. They are yummy, but if all you consume are superhero comics, you won’t be a very healthy comic reader; you’ll be fat, disgusting and sick (Hmmm….that sounds like a stereotype…). Comics like All Nighter are like eating your salad because even when a slice-of-life comic isn’t “awesome”, just the change of pace in terms of narrative structure, themes and art design will make you a better comic reader (even if you do stick to the superhero path for the most part).
Slice of life comics will sink or swim based on how much the reader identifies with the main characters and how three-dimensional those characters are. The degree of difficulty for these comics is pretty high because you can never save a sub-par story with a double-page spread of Hulk punching a giant gorilla in the face. So, even though the characters in this comic didn’t remind me (personally) of my own early years or any of my friends, Hahn still does a great job of making the characters seem like real human beings who have their own individual strengths and weaknesses.
Art is also tremendously important to the theme of a comic like All Nighter. Hahn has chosen to make the main character (Kit) sympathetic via the art. We’re supposed to like her and kinda cheer for her to get her life together. You can tell this because he makes her cute. Hahn could have made different art choices (i.e. making Kit hard-edged and scowling and covered with nasty tattoos) and that would have completely changed the tenor of this comic book. I also applaud the decision to go black-and-white. This is a story that would not be enhanced by color. You’re supposed to be paying attention to what the characters say and the expressions on their faces, not the rendered highlights on their cheeks.
What’s Not So Good: As I mentioned above, slice-of-life comics are highly personal and the story and characters missed for me in a few key places. I personally always struggle with stories of 20-somethings that just can’t get their lives together and continually make bad choices because the characters make me personally angry. Life really isn’t that difficult when you’re 20, so it is frustrating to see these kids who just can’t get their shit together and remain stuck in bad relationships, bad jobs, doing poorly in school, etc.
On the other hand, the fact that the comic is getting an emotional response from me probably means it is very well done. 🙂 So, perhaps this comic is enjoyable for both the directionless and those who get angry with slackers.
Still, can’t some writer tackle the “challenge” of a slice-of-life story about young people who eliminate the negative influences in their lives, excel in school, get a good job and have families?
Conclusion: This will stay on my pull list because it hits a couple of spots that just aren’t well represented in today’s comic industry. First, it’s a slice of life comic and we need more of those (just like we all need to eat more vegetables). Second, it is black-and-white and I love comics that will tell their stories with nothing but words and lines. And, even though this issue didn’t blow my socks off, Hahn is telling an interesting story of losers trying to find their way in life.
Grade: B-
-Dean Stell
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