For some years now, Dutchman Erik Kriek has been producing an excellent series of pantomime (i.e. -- "silent"; no words; like those of fellow European, Jason) comics. Way hep Dutch publisher Oog & Blik is the responsible party for this fine collection of the first five issues of Gutsman Comics. What's Gutsman all about? Well, it's kind of hard to explain, but it's pretty much about the interior life of it's creator, a middle-aged, urban, bourgeois male living in Amsterdam, in which his family life, love life and fantasy life all get jumbled together. It's fun, well done and worth a look.
In the Pines by Erik Kriek adapts five "murder ballads": one traditional – "Pretty Polly (And The Ship’s Carpenter)", which has its murky origins somewhere in the early 18th century – and four composed in the latter half of the 20th century: "The Long Black Veil" by Danny Dill & Marijohn Wilkin; "Taneytown" by Steve Earle; Gillian Welch's haunting "Caleb Meyer"; and concluding with "Where the WIld Roses Grow" by Nick Cave. Printed in duotone throughout, with a different tone for each piece. Lyric darkness delineated.