Jonathan Baylis' So Buttons #15

Jonathan Baylis has been writing comics for about a decade now, working with cartoonists to relate anecdotes from his life in the tradition of Harvey Pekar. What's changed for him over the years? Well, as evidenced by the latest issue of his anthology series So Buttons, he's starting to think like less as a writer and more as an editor. What I mean by that is that the way he sequences has become more sophisticated and his themes are more emotionally resonant. 

In So Buttons #15 (with a cover by C.M. Campbell that pays homage to a Barry Windsor-Smith cover from a Machine Man miniseries in the 80s), Baylis quickly establishes his theme as fathers and sons. Frequent collaborator Noah Van Sciver is a perfect choice for a loose and expressive story about a younger Baylis going with his father to visit his father's old neighborhood in Brooklyn. The message of the story ("be yourself") was a little pat, but the details of his affection for his father, along with how Baylis was frequently mystified by him, are what linger. The follow-up story, where TJ Kirsch draws a brief anecdote about solid advice on take-out, is a good gag strip that gives further color with regard to their relationship.

Baylis is a film and TV guy, having worked in the industry for a number of years. As such, he often drops interesting anecdotes about various encounters but also describes how and why film has had an impact. Sometimes, like in this issue, it leads to interesting stories, like how David Lynch's films and shows made him feel like a little less of an outsider but also indirectly helped him land a job. (Bhanu Pratrap's angular, distorted cartooning was a perfect match for this subject.) When Baylis stays away from played-out, tedious references like Star Wars or superhero stuff (essentially, Kevin Smith territory) and focuses instead on more personal and meaningful work, it's easier to see how and why it is so resonant for him. 

The stories about his time as an intern at October Films (as drawn by Danny Hellman, Karl Christian Krumpholz, and Nathan Gelgud) are not only interesting on their own as anecdotes, but they also reveal a lot about what's important for him aesthetically and how it bleeds into his personal life. That focus on movie segues into a beautiful story about his recently-deceased mother's love for West Side Story, drawn by Becky Hawkins. What represents a step up for Baylis as a writer is that this isn't simply a sentimental, emotional anecdote (although that is part of it); it's also an examination of the lacuna that now exists about why his mother felt a certain way about things. It's something he will never really know, as there are many mysteries that parents leave behind. The single-page drawing from Eleanor Davis about his mother-in-law is the single best page in the whole comic; it's a beautiful visual explication of not feeling one's own age. 

The only real misstep was Baylis' text explaining his themes at the end. I get why he might have done this, but it felt unnecessary. The themes and how they connected were clear to any reader willing to read closely. That aside, Baylis was right in asserting that this was his most cohesive issue of So Buttons to date. As a writer and as an editor, this is a clear sign that Baylis has hit his stride, and I'm excited to see his work continue to evolve. 

Jonathan Baylis' So Buttons #14

My review of Jonathan Baylis and his collaborators' new issue of So Buttons (#14) comes at a momentous time for the writer, as this issue was just nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Anthology. It's unusual for a self-published minicomic to be nominated for any award, so this is quite an achievement. The funny thing is that while I think it has his single best story to date, the issue as a whole is uneven. Or rather, the content of the first half is jarring compared to the content in the second half. That's understandable, given that the tonal shift occurred because Baylis' mother died while he was making the comic, and he chose to honor her with a memorable story and reprints of stories that featured her. 

The cover, by MariNaomi, is mixed photography and Shrinky-Dinks. It's an eloquent tribute to his mother, the pages of his comic scattered across the ocean. Baylis tries to frame the nature of the issue by framing it as "Life & Death," but as he points out in the afterword, the first part may as well have been called "Starfucker." Essentially, these are extended, amusing name-dropping stories. It wasn't any one story in particular that was bad, it's just that the whole theme, with this many stories, felt excessive and self-indulgent. 

The first story, drawn by Box Brown, was about his love of the Howard Stern show, and the producer, Gary Dell'Abate, in particular. This ties in with Baylis' stint working for the Topps card company, as he dropped off some Pamela Anderson trading cards. The actual anecdote where he meets Gary is exceedingly brief; this story is more a reflection of how much he liked the whole Stern experience. The whole aesthetic (Brown chose a yellow-orange palette that was vaguely nauseating) was off-putting, but then that's part of the Stern experience. 

The second story, with longtime partner T.J. Kirsch, was about how much he loved Chester Brown and how ironic it was that it was his wife, Ophira, who wound up meeting and interviewing him first. This wound up being a more interesting anecdote, as Baylis spotted him riding his bike to TCAF, and Brown slowed down, walked with him, and bought his comic! Kirsch's washed-out brownish hues were perfect for this story, and the whole point (comics is a small world, you should reach out to your heroes) is well-made. 

"So...Ballistic" is a mirror image of the previous story. Drawn by Sophia Glock, it's about Baylis' relative lack of interest toward the classic comic series Love & Rockets (amusingly, with Glock hectoring him about his lack of critical acumen). It's really just an excuse for the punchline of Baylis seeing Jaime Hernandez, asking him to look at a comic, and then being flustered when Jaime walks away with it. At two pages, it's just the right length. His collaboration with Craig Campbell about James Earl Jones was great when it focused on how Baylis was inspired by Jones overcoming his stutter (especially with Campbell putting on a cartooning clinic with multiple art stories and an impressive use of shading) and less so when it focused on Star Wars references (at this point, more than one is one too many). 

The second half of the issue kicks off with a sweet story drawn by Summer Pierre about Baylis teaching his young son about the concept of the "rally cap." Baylis has a real talent for taking a minor anecdote and turning it into either a solid punchline, a poignant moment, or a powerful memory.  Steven Arnold's cartooning for a story about a beloved former comic dealer who died had its moments (the bit where Baylis is drawn wearing his trademark cap at various ages was cute), but Baylis' text overwhelmed it in a way it doesn't usually do with his collaborators. 

"Take A Penny...Leave A Penny" is the piece Baylis wrote about the death of his mother, and it was drawn by Karl Christian Krumpholz. This was an excellent choice, because Krumpholz's dense and expressive style was a perfect match for this story. In the span of two pages, Baylis connected saving a young girl's life thanks to CPR training with seeing his mother suffering a stroke and dying in a way that felt organic and not overly mawkish. Krumpholz's use of dutch angles and thick lines for the opening segment but then decreasing his line weight for the latter part of the story was a nice way of smoothing out the narrative, and the brief flashbacks to previous stories featuring his mom was wonderfully restrained. Baylis let the moments speak for themselves. 

That's followed by reprints of those stories, which reminded the reader of the tenderness of Baylis' relationship to his mother. The final story, "So...Buttons" reveals to the reader the origin of the series' name, as it was something his mother said to him when he was sassing her about cleaning his room. The artist, Ayoko Nito, follows up on this origin story gag with a back cover joke featuring Baylis crouching on a rooftop like Batman. The back half of the issue was as good as anything as Baylis has ever written. Not just because of the subject matter, but because there was a lot less explaining of backstories and more letting things unfold on their own.