I decided to combine these two into one blog entry, as the reviews of them would have been pretty much identical. I have been reading Nathan Pyle’s comics on Facebook for a while, now, and was delighted to discover that the Hurst Public Library has two graphic novel collections of his work. There might be more, but I discovered these during my shelving adventures last Tuesday night.
They were not, of course, disappointing. I remember seeing a lot of the represented comics before, but some were new to me. In these comics, Mr. Pyle finds a way to re-phrase some of our most common human experiences, as though aliens were experiencing them. Examples: Refrigerator is called “sustenance preserver;” eating vegetables is referred to as “ingesting leaves;” cats are called “vibrating creatures;” and kissing is referred to as “mouthpushing.”
Various traditions are tackled, such as a wedding (called “cohesion”) in the second volume, and Halloween, in which the phrase “trick or treat” is rendered, “Provide a sweet or face mild harassment.” A penalty is called in a sports event, for “shoving after shove time was over.” Another sporting event is referred to as “recreational face-striking, and then there is a celebration of “collective survival” on “New Revolution’s day.”
Side note: While perusing Nathan’s Facebook page, I noticed a simple phrase in his info. “I follow Jesus.” That makes me very happy.
I’ll share two of my favorites here. The first one involves the vibrating creature and its love for little boxes. However, as the scene pans out, it seems that we are not so different from our vibrating creatures.
And how could I not love this one about libraries, structures filled with texts, free for us to simply take?
TTFN y’all!!
The Constant Reader 