Dave Sim's Glamourpuss

Dave is playing tricks on us. Glamourpuss a series of line drawings and meditation on the techniques of great newspaper strip artists, mostly Alex Raymond. There's no story. I've seen similar work in artists' sketchpads. Steve Rude's sketchpads, for example, offer one example after another of the Dude's favorite illustrators and are fully worthy of being published—as sketchpads.

Dave is also playing with the comic book form, knowing the combo of word balloons and pictures are as irresistible to any fan as a trail of cookies. We just can't stop ourselves from reading the balloons, no matter how inane. Marshall McLuhan is spinning in his grave. In the case of Glamourpuss, the medium is the message. Period. Nothing else to say.

Dave may have a bee up his ass about the world of fashion. A lot of people do. They look at the "People" spreads in their daily paper, read People but not Vanity Fair, and resent what little space the evening news gives to our celebrity-drenched culture. Thus there is a checklist of haute couture invoking Dolce & Gabbana , Kenneth Jay Lane, Starter Club, and yes, Gucci (secret Nexus connection.)

The drawings are beautiful and innocent. Sim explains how he lifts them from fashion spreads and tries to use Alex Raymond's inking style. I would guess Sim has the two R. Crumb Art & Beauty Magazines, and they may have inspired him. Whereas Crumb's commentary is deliberately naïve and obtuse, Sim's is more stream-of-consciousness. Most of his brain is in his hand while he's drawing. The lettering is just an afterthought. As an artifact it's interesting. As a story or comic book it's not.