Pounded [Paperback]

I've been a fan of Brian Wood's art and storytelling since I stumbled across Channel Zero, but Pounded holds a special place in my graphic novel collection. Like others, I read the preview strips on Oni's web site (which are collected in the back of this book) and simply HAD to know where this story would lead. I have fallen in love with this tale of a punk-rock-posers fall from grace and brutal redemption. My only complaint is that there needs to be more. Every time I read this book I flip the pages again and again expecting there to be more chapters at the end. I've fallen so in love with these characters that I demand to know more about their lives, dammit! I even found myself making futile attempts to mimic Steve Rolston's simplified but highly characterized art. Even with thick black outlines, he makes Vancouver feel so real.

There are few pleasures as wonderful as reading a good graphic novel. It can never produce soulful tunes like a song, but it does produce a rhythm through a narrative of words and pictures. And it can never have the flowing fluidity of a movie but the graphic novel is still a visual wonder in its own right. Moreover, if done well, it offers every bit as much enjoyment, comedy, artistic nuance and storytelling value as all of the above, if not more.

Pounded is an example of a good graphic novel. Steve Rolston's manga-style art is just amazing on this book. If you've seen Steve's pencil work at the back where all the extras are, you would see how clean and precise his art looks and that's without even the inks on, in which case it looks even better. However, the manga style lends a campy feel to the book but it does add to the punk-rock sensibility and that's what makes the art good here. It is a simple case of the right artist working on the right kind of book. One flip-through of the book and you can see how good and artistically appropriate the art is, in accordance to the theme.

But like all good graphic novels, it has a sublime story as well and this one, like all the others, is signature Brian Wood. One doesn't need to read far into the first issue of this story to know the main character isn't put together but is instead a messed up, morally deviant person. Brian excels at creating flawed individuals but with a strong point in their lives and in many cases that is true, Supermarket, Channel Zero, The Couriers, to name a few. Pounded follows that slant but with its own character and attitude. Heavy Parker is that messed up guy with no qualms about having sex with someone other than his girlfriend, Missy. That sends him into a whole world of trouble with Missy herself, who turns into a...well, you'll know.

You wont see that coming, I assure you. And I am sure Brian had that planned out right from the beginning. His feel for narrative is alive and kicking and you never have a dull moment with the fleshed-out characters. There is genuine authenticity to them, which is hard to pull off with the limited page form of the chapters, but Brian does it with style yet again, which speaks a lot about his skill as a writer.

If you are looking for a quick and enjoyable pseudo-punk read, this is it. It's hard to point out flaws in this one, you will be too busy laughing and having fun. And don't let the punk premise put you away, it will remind you of the days you got drunk in a disco and had too much to piss in the morning after. It's like a mirror.

I can't think of too many people liking this comic. In my opinion, who ever created this made the story take a back seat. The cover suggests violence, a lot of it. No one loves comic book violence more then me, just as long as it makes sence. This trade paper back has maybe 5 pages of fighting at the very end (very disapointing) and the rest of the comic is a teeny bopper soap opera. I like the art style, and hope that in the future the artist of this sad comic might find a story worth telling.

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