Opinion

Dumped (Trade Paperback)

Writer/Artist: Andi Watson
Published by Oni Press

Debs and Binny are two people who meet by chance at a party. Debs is throwing someone's belongings out of a window, and Binny, a rabid used book collector stops her from throwing out a copy of Stig Of The Dump. This is the start of a relationship in which they will both be hurt, confused, and happy in about equal measure - just like life.

Hardly anyone is ever going to see Dumped, which is a sin and a shame, because this is what more comics should be about. There's not a spandex-clad hero is sight, nor even a mystical figure, nor a hard-boiled detective. Instead, what Andi Watson, creator of Breakfast After Noon and Slow News Day has created is a tale of human beings in a relationship. Which means it's complex, painful, heartwarming, and difficult. And, I'd have to say, quite beautiful.

Andi Watson has made a reputation for himself in independent comic circles for his quirky, humanistic stories. In telling a simple story of two slightly damaged people and the way they come together, Dumped absolutely enthralls. I believed in both Debs and Binny completely - they both speak and act like real people, with characters that seem entirely credible. The ways in which they interact, and the little misunderstandings that arise, have a quiet intensity that prevented me from putting the book down once I'd started it.

Watson's art has a cartoonish simplicity that allows him to keep expressions broad and easy to read. It also give him the chance to present his ideas in their simplest terms. There's a great deal to be said for this style's use in this kind of story, where the greater-rendered penciller/inker or even fully-painted styles of most comics would swamp the tale. This is not to say that the words are more important, only that in this case, the words and the pictures form a balanced whole.

Oni Press has a reputation for delivering high quality comics in genres and styles that distinguish it from the mainstream. In Watson's work, they tap into the kind of tales the Hernandez Brothers were telling in Love and Rockets back in the eighties. That's an honourable tradition, and one that I sincerely hope they see fit to continue.

You'll never find it, but if you can, I'd certainly recommend it.