Fingerman's previous work, Beg the Question
, was a realistic black-and-white graphic novel about two young New Yorkers' troubled engagement. This volume is a full-color short story collection that trades realism for Grand Guignol. Fingerman favors a baroque cartoony style full of bent, hunched figures and very wordy dialogue. His work has a density that recalls the early Mad
comic books, but is far grimmer. In "Missing Pieces," a paramedic supplements his income by selling photos of brutally dismembered crime and accident victims. This troubles his partner, but when the photographer himself is run over by a subway, the partner decides that selling atrocity photographs might not be a bad gig. "Otis Goes to Hollywood" is the story of an immensely strong naïf, Otis, who has an unfortunate habit of brutally killing people by accident. Some Hollywood sleazeballs take the opportunity to turn Otis into an action star, revealing that everyone in the story is morally corrupt, except for Otis—who innocently slaughters dozens. The violence is like "Itchy and Scratchy" from The Simpsons
—too bizarrely exaggerated to be taken seriously. These stories are not for the easily offended, but readers who like their humor shaded pitch black will enjoy them. (Oct.)
