Magic Boy and the Robot Elf

I think that I give 2 kinds of bad review.

In a case where I feel that there is plenty of good and bad stuff in there and I can see that an effort has been made with it and a certain amount of pride taken I will try my utmost to objectively point out the places where I feel there are faults and make constructive criticism, hopefully, to try and influence the comic for the better although I will be generally positive.

My last column was an example of this. I liked the comic but felt it could be improved upon and deserved to be.

Then there is the other kind…

The kind when I felt that the comic was a total waste of my life to read. The kind of comic where there are very few redeeming features and the creator is wasting my own, the reader and his own time to produce AND the bastard is charging money for it. With these comics I will not hesitate to put the boot into them and go for a totally negative outlook.

For an example of this, read on…

Magic Boy and the Robot Elf
By James Kochalka

A first glance Magic Boy and The Robot Elf looks like a children’s book. It’s bright, colorful, presented in a simplistic and non-representational way and looks fun for kids to read, however, with its surreal and adult plot and various graphical representations of penises and breasts it really is not suitable for children at all.

The plot is bizarre and surreal, to say the least, and the delivery makes it incomprehensible. It diverts and twists and seems more like a collection of dreams that have been slapped together than anything else.

This book follows the story of Magic Boy who is old and decrepit and probably insane and for company, decides to build a replica of himself. The robot he makes goes insane and then sets off into his past to kill his creator when he was young and take over his life.

There are some very insightful and intelligent moments, although, this doesn't save the work from ruination at the hands of the (probably) drug-inspired load of old bollocks that the writer is trying to pass off as a plot.

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with surreal stuff or stories that break the norm of conventional story telling technique, however, I appreciate that there is a very fine line between unconventional storytelling and total shite. This book crosses that line, unfortunately.

I think the distinction is that, if it is good, then although you may not understand it completely at first you are prepared to make the effort. With this book, I didn't understand it completely at first and I didn't actually want to make the effort required to understand it fully.

...So I guess you could say I was a little disappointed with this one.

Darren Schroeder probably loves it, but then he loves any old bunch of toss that gets given to him to review, so who cares?