MEATHAUS: S.O.S – Trade Paperback
Written by Various Writers Art by Various Artists
Nerdcore Website
Variety is the spice of life, and lucky for me, I love the spicy stuff. General Tso Chicken, Pace Picante Sauce, Wasabi Almonds, and Buffalo Wings. (With the chicken, Jessica.) So when it comes to movies, field trips, dates, and of course, food, the wider the scope, the more fun I’ll have. That definitely goes for books as some of my favorites are collections of short stories from the likes of horror masters Clive Barker, Steve Niles, and Stephen King. So when I came across Nerdcore’s comics anthology, Meathaus: S.O.S, I welcomed the many different and stylish yarns with invited hands, even though most of it wasn’t horror-related.
Filled with a wide range of storytelling and artistic measure, Meathaus: S.O.S. somehow acts as one entity to the reader, as if the voice starting from Farel Darymple’s Fotogloctica carries into the next writer/artist team until the very end. This is probably pure coincidence, but in reading the forward, it appears that many of these creators were friends, therefore giving some sort of uniformity to the work, no matter how different each story was. For the short explanation of it all, Meathaus: S.O.S. is The Breakfast Club of comic book anthologies. A deep message about the human spirit and the need for imagination in our daily lives, delivered with a gentle pat on the reader’s back. It’s touching to say the least.
Right away, the book starts out like a Wes Anderson flick with the aforementioned Fotogloctica. I could definitely see Anderson making this into a short movie as it has his infamous quirky sense of family attached with enduring moments of beauty and sadness. I’m not sure if Farel Darymple is a big fan of Anderson, or is indeed himself Anderson, but if it’s neither… well then I’m hoping he’s flattered with the comparison! His story is a great way to start out the book, and one of the highlights of the entire collection. From there, the adventure continues in a format reminiscent to MTV’s Liquid Television, featuring shorts that will make you grin with heavy thought. Especially when we reach The Computer and The Tree by Jared Purrington. It’s a style that on the surface appears simple, but the message is buried deep in the parallel between technology and nature. It’s a very cool delivery, especially in this day and age where morals are a hard sell. It’s definitely a story that will engage conversation amongst friends over dinner or coffee as well.
Sticking with the Liquid Television comparison, the “Aeon Flux” of the book is a story entitled The Dirties by The Hanuka Brothers. It seems like if you want to make a stylish and intriguing book these days, you have to do it with your brother, a la The Luna Brothers (Girls, The Sword). The Dirties does emit emotion, but in such a small way where love or death is not the key to drama, but childhood innocence. The story chronicles two brothers looking out for their sister whom was injured badly by the so called Dirties gang. They’re fighters, and venture out to a place where the bad guys that beat up their sister live. But in the end, it’s revealed differently from the girl’s perspective on what happened giving a sort of Twilight Zone twist to the story that pays off well. Not only is The Dirties drawn superbly, but just leaps off the page creating a memory that the reader will not shake for days. I’m still thinking, working out the details of the narrative, even after about a week from reading it.
The rest of the compilation doesn’t let up with underlying messages and wholesome truths found in the dark places of our mind and hearts. A man encounters a dog on the verge of death, and finds the dog is able to grant him a wish before he passes to the next life. The decision the man makes is one that invokes thought, and I like that kind of message in a story. Not only does Marian Churchland grab the heart and make it weep, but also makes the reader basically yell at the main character to make a wish already! Excellent pacing for this untitled piece. And many others don’t appear to have titles, so it’s a little more difficult to go into more detail about them, but they all share that common theme of life being more than a thought, but a stream of consciousness. It’s constant, and if you’re not careful, life will definitely kick you in the ass. So says Mr. P., the assuming raw Porterhouse steak for a friend in Firefox 49, as I related to this piece of work to great lengths. Life is full of ups, downs, and unwanted floats. Take what you can get to stay afloat, and mainly to keep a steak with arms, legs, and that talks from calling you a jackass. It’s weird to read, I know, but once you read it, you’ll understand where Jim Campbell and myself are coming from.
This is a great anthology for travel, as it’s filled with so many different stories from different angles, but intertwining beautifully for intermittent conversations and dare to say, coffee breaks. Meathaus: S.O.S is not to be left at home. By train, bus, bike, or airplane, this comic book anthology acts like a friend with some free time, and will definitely keep you company.
GRADE: A
By Mike Fish
