Jeffrey Brown: Feeble Attempts

Jeffrey Brown reminds me of the underground cartoonists of the ‘60s and ‘70s, specifically Justin Green. He brings the same sort of personalized storytelling to his work, and his amateurish drawing style is both enchanting and brimming over with detail. Feeble Attempts is a collection drawn from Brown’s mini-comics and other strips, running the gamut, in terms of subject matter, from imaginative super hero romps to autobiographical material, political and cultural commentary, and thoughts on relationships and romance.

Brown is a clever humorist and his short, one-and-two-page strips hold up well to repeated readings, revealing a little something extra each time. I particularly liked the truth about human nature revealed by Brown’s “My Conspiracy To Not Sell You The New ‘Garden State’ DVD,” while his comparison of the Iraq War and reality television is simply brilliant. In a nod, perhaps, to Green’s work with “Binky Brown,” you have “My Jesus Is An Awesome Jesus,” and the drawing of the robotic construct shown on the back cover of Feeble Attempts is just awesome (and would make a great poster).

Nothing here is going to shake up the world of comics greatly, but Feeble Attempts does provide a thoughtful, entertaining read; Brown’s distinctive style and unique voice is a refreshing change from the many far-too-serious recent attempts at creating “art” in the comics’ world. This is nothing more than 48-pages of fun between two covers – too subtle to be called “mindless,” too thoughtful to be easily dismissed. (Top Shelf Productions)