Showing posts with label Bosch Fawstin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bosch Fawstin. Show all posts

Monday, March 2, 2020

Mohammed Monday

Once upon a time, Mohammed Mondays were a regular feature around here. Now, they are special events, reserved for when I come across a particularly amusing cartoon featuring the Prophet Mohammed, or some other noteworthy occasion.

On this Mohammed Monday, I bring you the latest from artist Bosch Fawstin, who may well have brought more images of the Big Mo into this world than any other single human being. (Click on the image to see a larger, more easily read version.


Fawstin has released a color version of this cartoon as a limited-run print. One hundred signed and numbered copies are available at Fawstin's online store. For more information, or to order your copy, click here.

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

'Table for One' is a great read

Table for One (2004)
Story and Art: Bosch Fawstin
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

Will's obnoxious boss bet him that he wouldn't last one year as a waiter in his restaurant. It's now one year later, and Will intends to collect the money owed and leave the place behind. Unfortunately for Will, his boss won't let him go quietly...



"Table for One" is a small story that deals with a single night, but it's a night that will looms large in the lives of most of the characters. Although I appreciated the film-noirish aestitic of the book's art and tone from the first pages, I felt it was a little on the talkie side. I was drawn into the story by the artistic style and the fact that Fawstin is a good enough writer that each character had a unique voice, but I felt that what I was reading might have been better served by the film medium. I've been saying that more and more about modern comics, because, increasingly, artists and writers don't seem to understand the difference between film and comics. That wasn't the issue with Fawstin's book; here, I just felt that maybe comics wasn't right vehicle for the story he wanted to tell.

But then I hit the spread on pages 21 and 22.

I have read thousands of comic books and graphic novels. I have edited hundreds of comic book pages. That two page spread is one of the very best examples of comic book storytelling that I have ever seen. It captures the hustle and bustle of a busy restaurant dining room and tracks Will's movement from table to table as he waits on the guests and hears parts of their conversations. Those two pages capture both movement and the passage of time in such an artful way that it puts Fawstin on a level of skill that few creators reach. Those two pages also proved that my feeling about Fawstin choosing the wrong vehicle to tell his story were absolutely wrong.

That fantastic two page spread also marked the point where the story kicked into high gear and the dramatic stakes were raised and then raised again. While I wished I knew more about how the diner who insisted he be called God by the restaurant's owner fit into the picture, there was more than enough drama and brilliant storytelling to satisfy me. I loved the way Will and his relationship to the various characters unfolded as I turned the pages. The book even came to a perfect end that contained elements that I knew were coming and other elements that were pleasant surprises... but all of which were perfectly conceived and expertly executed.


"Table for One" is available at Amazon. com via the link below, or directly from Fawstin's online store at this link. I recommend getting it, and I recommend getting the autographed version so you can send a few more dollars in the direction of this brilliant creator.

Monday, May 4, 2015

Mohammed Monday: 'You can't draw me!'

Pamela Gellar and her organization sponsored an art contest for people to draw the Prophet Mohammed. Not surprising to anyone, a pair of psychopathic idolators (posing as Muslims) tried to shoot up the gathering where the $10,000 prize was given out for the best entry. Fortunately, the only deaths were those of the would-be mass-murderers themselves. Fortunately, their lives ended as they had led them -- in failure.

On that note, here's one of the entries from Gellar's constest. And a quote from a post at the Reason.com blog on the topics of the event and the violence it drew. Too bad so many American "leaders"--from President Obama down--believe the opposite.

The future must belong to those who recognize a categorical difference between free expression and violent reprisals. The future must belong to those who affirm speech over silence and freedom over fear, regardless of who is speaking and who is offended.