gone by kris dresen

Book:  gone

Author:  kris dresen

Publisher:  Outlines Press

I’m starting off with a bit of a history lesson – go with it, I promise there’s a point to it.

Situated at the southernmost point of Indiana is a small, sleepy town called New Harmony.  In the early 1800s, a group of radical Separatists from the German Lutheran Church (aren’t they all) moved to this spot in the lower Wabash Valley, and created a so-called Utopian community.

It was a move seemingly ripped from today’s headlines - their literal interpretation of biblical text, and their interpretation of current world events led them to believe that a Second Coming of Jesus Christ was imminent and this was the happening place to be for the Rapture.

The Harmonists, as the settlers were called, combined the Swabian work ethic (Work, work, work! Save, save, save!) with the Benedictine rule (Pray and work!).  This resulted in an amazing period of economic self-sufficiency that was recognized as "the wonder of the west."

Of course, they were also staunch believers in celibacy, and the society eventually died out . . .

But, before that could happen, the Harmonists’ charismatic leader was given Divine guidance that the time of the Sunwoman of Revelation (Revelations 12:1-18, for the curious) was upon them, so they moved again.  New Harmony was quickly sold to a wealthy Scot named Robert Owen, who had a different vision for a Utopian society.   His “Community of Equality” attracted some of the most notable (and flamboyant) scholars, writers, artists, and philosophers of the early 19^th Century.  And, while the Owen experiment at a Utopian community failed miserably after only three years, the contribution to literature, art, scientific, and educational theory, study, and practice resounds today.

Wondering when I’m going to get around to talking about gone by kris dresen, eh?

Wait for it . . .

When I think about New Harmony, I don’t think about the early settlers and their quest for the elusive Rapture, I think about the writers, artists, and architects; the geologists, scientists, and mathematicians; the educators, reformers and philosophers.  I think about the people who weren’t afraid to think outside the box, challenge conventional thinking, or ask ‘why not’.  I think about the people who said, ‘what if’.

gone is the second offering from Outlines Press, and the first by artist, publisher, and serial non-capitalist, kris dresen.  It’s sixteen pages of edgy art, inner conflict, and revelation painstakingly folded into a tale about birds, telephone poles, kick-ass boots, and a really big dose of gravity.

It’s classic kris dresen art, with a lemon twist.  The same, yet different.   A little to the left, no, no, right there.  Ah.

My first reaction is to call it something pithy like ‘graphic poetry’, but that tends to cheapen the overall accomplishment.  gone is the kind of publication that you read a thousand times, and catch something different each time through.  Perhaps, once you focus on the eyes and everything they might portend.  Maybe the next time, you see hair and feathers.  Then the next, the spread of arms and wings. 

You see a deliberate rise and tentative fall, and shadows that lay ahead then behind.  You wonder why the boots go on and off. What it means to stand, sit, climb, jump, kneel, lay, listen, and leave.  At times, you argue or rationalize, then others you move to compromise.  Within gone, each picture tells a story, but each word evokes a thousand pictures. 

And no matter what secrets you uncover, one message rings loud and clear:  The first step is a bitch.

kris dresen’s art style is her calling card, and what gives gone its biker babe swagger.

It’s all about straight lines like telephone poles, stripes, laces, and shadows, but tempered with waves like hair, feathers, clouds, boot soles, and eyes.  The patterns are strong, and the textures are rich and evocative.  A woman can be tough, lost and sexy all at the same time, and the crows can be angry, curious, protective, and knowing.

Similarly, kris dresen uses words as art - bold and italic, no capitalization, very little punctuation.  Some are strong, demanding, and almost harsh.  Others a whisper, a sigh, a quiet invocation.  The clever use of words and images creates a mood, and transports the reader into the story – you are not just reading or witnessing, so much as participating.

Like the Harmonists, the women of Outlines Press aren't afraid to think outside the box, challenge conventional thinking, or ask ‘why not’.  Their logo could very well proclaim ‘what if’.  While that spirit is not necessarily new, it’s not so common or easily mastered as one would expect. 

I have read gone at least thirty times in the last month, and each time I’ve flipped forward, flipped backward, sat it down, picked it back up, turned it sideways, turned it back, started all over again. 

Much like it’s sister publication, CORE, gone gets its juice from being different, and the possibilities for future kris dresen publications are endless and exciting.  

It’s a heady mix of words, art, imagination, and that possibility - if they'd throw in some dark chocolate and a frisky little Beaujolais, I'd consider asking it to spend the night.

I said it last week, but it bears repeating:

The rules of the game are changing, and authors and publishers need to push the envelope a little more.  Admittedly, some readers don’t like change and aren't attracted to publications like those coming out of Outlines Press.  That's fine, but over time, reader demographics and likes and dislikes will shift.  The audience with a taste for gone is out there, but there are a lot of other evolving tastes that have yet to be discovered.

I’m giving gone a 5.0 out of 6 on the Rainbow Scale – it’s fun, fresh, and different, and that makes it a keeper for the top row of my bookshelf.

CORE by JD Glass

Book:  CORE, Volume 1, Issue 1

Author:  JD Glass

Publisher:  Outlines Press

As a kid, I was addicted to Sesame Street.  Bert and Ernie were gay, Oscar was bipolar, Cookie Monster had an eating disorder, the Count had OCD, Grover was a special needs Muppet, and Big Bird experienced random episodes of disambiguation with a woolly mammoth named Snuffleupagus.  Of course, that was before we became a society obsessed with labels. 

Back then; my only obsession was keeping my streak of correctly selecting which one of these things was not like the other alive. 

Forty full years later, I can honestly say that competitive little kid in me is still playing One of These Things.  The thing is, I’m doing it in this blog.  Every week, I read something and try to figure out what it is that makes it the same or different from everything else I read.  Most times the formula is routine – I look at originality, character development, use of plot devices, construction details, and logic progression.  Other times I consider editing, e-book translation, dialogue flow, cover art, and plausibility. 

Once, I even looked at the pretty pictures.

But, when I got my hot little hands on CORE by JD Glass, it was obvious that this is The One that is not like the others.  It tells a story, but isn’t a book.  It has rhythm, but isn’t a song.  It feels familiar, but it’s all brand new.  The narrative is at once edgy and low, and the imagery is both dark and light.  It’s everything and nothing you’ve ever seen before.

It’s sort of like Tony Bennett joining Joey Ramone in a rousing chorus of “Ba-ba-bamp-ba ba-ba-ba-bamp-ba I wanna be sedated”.

In 2006 JD Glass introduced the World to everyone’s favorite punk rocker, Nina, in the game-changing coming of age love story, Punk Like Me.  A year later, we were given Punk and Zen, and followed Nina as she chased her dreams, tore down the walls she’d so carefully constructed, and learned to really love and be loved.  CORE, like these two books, is narrated in the first person by Nina, and maintains their lyrical cadence and easy humor. 

I have to admit, I've always been a bit amused that the story of an unapologetic punk rocker could be told in such a rich, smooth, rhythmic voice.

CORE Volume 1, Issue 1 tells the behind the scenes, between the lines story of the following sentence from Punk and Zen:    “This all went well until we arrived in Vienna where a combination of alcohol, bad communication, and hysteria resulted in Jerkster’s wrist getting broken – he and the wrist got sent home.”  

As CORE progresses, we learn the details of how Jerkster broke his wrist, and why the tour fell apart.  We also find out that Jerkster is much more than a head-banging, kilt-wearing bassist.  And, we are shown that while we thought we were made privy to the full-scope of Nina’s journey into enlightenment, trust, and love, the first step really took place on a bench outside a hostel in Vienna. 

The artwork is a funky cool mishmash of themes and styles, with each piece telling more of the story.  I was blown away by the opposite page drawings of the lily and the iris, and the corresponding discussion of Fran and Samantha.  The flowers, like the women, are beautiful, sweet, and sexy.  They have so many similarities, yet so many differences.  I appreciate that Nina’s symbolic epiphany emerges from the space between the two flowers.

I can't control my fingers I can't control my brain . . .

CORE is the first release from Outlines Press, which was founded by author and musician, JD Glass and artist, kris dresen.  Try as I might, I found it impossible to label CORE.  At first, I wanted to call it a graphic novel, but that felt too pretentious.  Then I thought it could be comic book, but that was too far of a stretch. It’s not a pamphlet – that’s too clinical; and calling it a magazine would just be offensive.  No, CORE is something else altogether.  It draws outside the lines of convention, it answers questions lingering in the dark fringes of conscious thought, and it blazes a thumping, hard driving, three chord trail in a new direction.

JD Glass has emerged as the crazyfunkycool warrior babe of the lesbian outland, and has drawn a clear line in the sand of NextGen publishing.  

CORE isn’t afraid to be different, and the possibilities for the future are endless.  It’s a new way to tell ‘the rest of the story’, and perhaps more importantly, to engage Gen Y readers in a language they can comprehend.

Nothin' to do and no where to go-o-oh I wanna be sedated.

The rules of the game are changing, and authors and publishers need to push the envelope.  Some readers don’t like change, but some crave it.  There’s nothing wrong with the successful formulas of the past, sometimes we all want what is familiar.  But there are other times when we feel restless, and we want to be challenged.  That’s where Outlines Press comes into play. And, if they can continue to satisfy those cravings, CORE and the myriad other Outlines offerings will be around for a very long time.  

I’m giving Volume 1, Issue 1 of CORE a 5.2 out of 6 on the Rainbow Scale.  It is the coolest thing to hit my mailbox this year.

The next offering by Outlines Press will be gone, featuring kris dresen's drawings and a tale of birds, telephone poles, boots, and big dose of gravity.