Synopsis
- Micrographica takes Renée French's Ignatz Award-nominated online strip of the same name and turns it way up. A mob of tiny rodents live la vida loca, led by the trash-talking bully Moe and his trash-talking sidekick Preston. Add in Nubbins, the big guy; poor, sweet crapball-lovin' Aldo and a rotting corpse turned playground, and you'll never find a more moving affirmation of traditional values. Inspired by a bald bird sighting while the author was wandering Hunter's Hill in Sydney, Australia, this book is pure weirdness — just what Renée French fans dream of. With guest drawings by Jim Woodring, Penn Jillette, Dean Cameron, Dylan Williams, James Gunn and more.
Reviews
Beautifully written, spare like Beckett, only far, far more entertaining, this book about four rats arguing over a ball of crap has strong indie cred, but quietly channels something deeper. Moe and his friend Preston, who suffers from a swollen nose when upset, find a small crap ball, which Aldo cherishes; Moe tries to pretend they're not interested, so the loser rat will leave their plaything alone. Aldo breaks the ball, and a fat rat with eczema around its nipples persuades him to go on a journey to a mythically large pile of crap to get more. Meanwhile, Moe and Preston play on a corpse while Moe insults Preston's mother. The art is rough black lines on a white background, a stark departure from the author's usual beautifully shaded drawings, and the book resembles a little self-published thing-but the art and binding fit the story completely. Darkly funny, and truly excellent, with a hint of the spiritual in its obscenity, it's reminiscent of Anders Nilsen's Dogs and Water but nastier and more likely to make you laugh. The dialog is truly superb.
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Three what?--gophers? little rodents, anyway--enact a legend of friendship, exclusion, and self-esteem in minimalist cartoonist French's diminutive, one-panel-per-page, new book. Preston finds a ball of crap, calls Moe over for an opinion. "Could be something great wrapped in crap," he opines, but then sweet-natured Aldo comes by, and the two pals decide, "We're late for a meeting." They and Aldo part ways, the latter in disappointment, since he wants to be their friend. Preston's nose inexplicably swells, and Moe rags him about it as they climb a rock, poke around a dead body, and sleep in a glove. Aldo forages, too, with Moe and Preston's rejection heavy on his mind, and when he discovers a plausible means to impress them, soothes himself. "I'm cool," he purrs. Sometimes this all seems sentimental and fey; sometimes, disgusting; most of the time, eccentrically impressive. Ray Olson
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