Markley’s Fevered Brain: Black, White and Brown

Wayne Markley


by Wayne Markley

I have been a huge fan of Chester Brown’s work since I first read Yummy Fur #1 back in 1986. Over the next 30 years, Chester Brown has continued to produce a mix of both fascinating and diverse work.  From his work in Yummy Fur, which was very surreal and groundbreaking at the time, to later when he would move on to both autobiographical and historical work, he never shies away from controversy in his subject matter and he is very meticulous in his research and his storytelling.  Chester’s work is not for everyone and almost all of it is for mature readers due to content, both sexual and concept wise.  I would not imagine a superhero fan enjoying his work, as he is as far from that genre as imaginable, but on the other hand I would rate him right up there as one of the modern masters of the medium.  His autobiographical work comes out of the inspiration of Joe Matt and Seth, both of whom are known for their autobiographical work (following the footsteps of Robert Crumb and Harvey Pekar) and they are also characters in his stories.  (And their work is also well worth reading as they are both great as Chester in different ways).  Overall I have loved everything Brown has done and this is just a brief overview of his work.  I would recommended it for anyone who is looking for something different than the traditional superhero material or is looking for some very creative, and at times, painful, reading. All of Brown’s collected work, except for covers, have been in black and white and while his art style is very distinctive, it has evolved over the years while remaining one of the most unique styles you will see.

Ed the Happy Clown

Ed the Happy Clown


Ed the Happy Clown ran in the first 18 issues of Yummy Fur.  The early stories of both Ed and Yummy Fur were done as little mini-comics which were later collected by the late Vortex Comics, reprinting the early mini-comics in full size and then continuing the story.  Ed is a twisting and twisted story about a very sad clown called Ed whose life is filled with horrible events, including being hounded by a vengeance vampire, haunted by cannibalistic pigmies, having a penis transplant (which is so twisted I cannot describe it here is this blog), incest, and even more horrible other things happen to him.  Yet, throughout this story, with every page you never know what is going to happen next and it is almost like a car crash as you are afraid to look but you have to see what is going to happen next. I will note that the end of the story did seem a bit abrupt and I have read that Chester became bored with the Ed story and  wanted to do what Joe and Seth were doing with autobiographical comics so he wrapped up Ed quickly and moved on to his next phase, which started with Yummy Fur  #19.  While not for everyone, I thought this was an amazing piece of storytelling.

The Playboy

The Playboy


The Playboy is the next major story arc Brown did that began in Yummy Fur #21. This was an autobiographical story about Chester’s teen years and his obsession with Playboy magazine and the joy and guilt it brought him.  He is brutally honest about his feeling of adolescence and the impact Playboy had on him and his relationships with women.  While there are numerous books written on the relationship about Playboy (and pornography in general) impact on men’s relationships with women, both good and bad, Brown never really seems to make any judgements except about himself and his own issues.  I suspect his social awkwardness (something a great deal of comic book creators/readers have in common) has more to do with his relationship issues than his teen years. Nevertheless, this is also a fascinating read, alas almost a 180 degrees different than Ed the Happy Clown.  In the collected edition of Playboy there is a letter included by Hugh Hefner to Chester about his book and what Hugh thought of Chester’s experiences and conclusions.  Yummy Fur #19-20 were a two part story about a neighbor in Chester’s boarding house that he had issues with.  With The Playboy, Chester’s art style is similar to Ed the Happy Clown, but it is a bit looser as is he becoming more combatable with design and with his page layout.

Underwater #1

Underwater #1


Next he did a book called Underwater, which ran for nine issues and, as far as I can tell, was never collected.  I know it was never finished.  It was an odd story about a baby growing up not understanding the world or langue around her (all of the text in the early issues was gibberish).  With each issue she would slowly learn more and the dialogue would become English vs. gibberish, but the pacing was very slow and Brown gave up on whatever he was trying to do with this story.  By this point he had moved from Vortex Comics to Drawn and Quarterly, where he remains today.

I Never Liked You

I Never Liked You


I Never Liked You is a collection of stories by Brown about growing up and the trauma and pain of his adolescent years.  While very few of us had a good time during this period, Brown’s telling of his teen years is so painful it is almost difficult to read. There are stories about bullies, unrequited love and feeling awkward.  I suspect a lot of this is because Brown is telling, very honestly, what a lot of us felt growing up. A collection of short stories that may bring you to tears, and if not, will leave you feeling very sad for Chester.  A good read that can be difficult at times.

The Little Man: Short Strips, 1980-1995

The Little Man: Short Strips, 1980-1995


The Little Man: Short Strips, 1980-1995 is a collection of material that really does not fit anywhere else and collects odd stories before Chester started doing long form storytelling.  Included here are the title story, The Little Man, a bizarre story; the stories from Yummy Fur #19 and #20; his essay on Schizophrenia, which caused quite a stir (his mother suffered from it); as well as a mix of other short stories about life. Almost all of the material here was from the pages of Yummy Fur but there is enough new material as well as notes and appendixes that make it worth while to get the collection even if you have the single issues of Yummy Fur.

Louis Riel

Louis Riel


Louis Riel was first done as a comic and was later collected into a graphic novel.  Here Chester turns from autobiographical material to do a historical biography of the Canadian legend Louis Riel.  Riel, while unknown to most Americans, was a Canadian revolutionary (and perhaps a madman) and was the leader of the Metis movement.  This book ran for ten issues and was very different than anything Chester had done prior to this.  He obviously tries to do a more “realistic” style of art, which with Brown is a relative term.  This is a very different book than his autobiographical material, or from Ed the Happy Clown, and while it is not my favorite work from Brown, it is very well done and is a good history lesson.  I knew nothing about Louis Riel before reading this book and now I can see why he is such as historical figure in Canadian history.  Probably the most mainstream book Chester has done, as there is no sex or mature content, but it is heavy on the politics.

Paying For It

Paying For It


Paying For It is an original graphic novel where Brown explores the virtues and negatives of paying for sex with prostitutes.  It is once again autobiographical and not as downbeat as The Playboy.  Here he tells of the end of his long term (for him at least) relationship of his then current girlfriend and his decision that he does not want romantic love but does want physical love, or just sex, so he turns to prostitution.  He documents each encounter, the costs, how it was arranged, and his thought process as it went along.  This covers almost six years.  While there is nudity and sex in this book it is in no way erotic.  It is almost sterile, but it is also a fascinating read as he lays out his thought process, his interaction with the women he hires, the relationships he has with them, what he thinks of them, and what his friends think of him for doing this. Of course, Joe Matt and Seth are major players here as over the years the story take place they are his confidants.  They do not always agree with him about his logic or what he is doing, but it makes for great reading.  As with most of Brown’s work there are extensive notes in the back of the book about the subject of prostitution, as well as notes about the story explaining things that were not in the main story, as well as an essay from Seth explaining his point of view which is not necessarily the way Chester explains it in the story.  While this an odd topic for a comic book story, I thought it was great, just from a straight forward storytelling point of view.  It is not cleaned up to make anyone look better; it is just a very honest look at one man’s life.

Mary Wept Over the Feet of Jesus

Mary Wept Over the Feet of Jesus


Mary Wept Over the Feet of Jesus is Brown’s most current work and he returns to a few of his favorite topics; history, prostitution, and the bible (in the back pages of Yummy Fur for a long time Brown did adaptations of the books from the Bible). In this book he takes nine stories from the Bible and tells the story of the women of the Bible, in particular Ruth, Bashiba, Tamar, Mary of Bethany and others. Throughout this book Brown examines the Bible’s view of prostitution while continuing his argument for it.  The book is made up of ten stories from the Bible that Brown uses to make his point about the virtues of sex work.  I am going to let you, the reader, make any judgments about his arguments here, but as always this book is a joy to read on many different levels.  If you like Chester’s other work, you will enjoy this book.  Also, as with almost all of his other work, there are extensive notes and appendixes in the back of the book.

There is very little from Chester Brown I would not highly recommend.  Alas, his work is not for everyone, and some people will be offended by it.  Personally, I love how he has a distinct style (which can be argued is derivative of Harold Gray), and that he is both extremely thoughtful and brutally honest in his work.  While I would not agree with everything he writes, I do he think he makes a good, well thought out argument for his point of view.  His historical work is both informative and entertaining.  I always learn something from reading Chester’s work be it factual, or insightful.  If you are adventurous and are looking for something different I would highly recommend you give him a try.

Everything I have written here is my opinion and does not reflect the thoughts or opinions of Westfield Comics or their employees.  Honest.  Have you read Chester Brown’s work? What do you think? What was your favorite? Least favorite? I would like to know. I can be reached at MFBWAY@AOL.COM or on Facebook at Wayne Markley.  What else are you reading and enjoying? What am I missing out on? I would like to know.  As always…

Thank you.

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