Bore #11
Comic, Jason Bradshaw, jasonrbradshaw.tumblr.com, [email protected], 32 pages, $5
The 11th issue of Bore is a cleanly drawn, autobiographical comic that succeeds by omission. By that I mean the drawings are spare on detail in such a way that facial features, limbs, and pets contain as little elaboration as possible. A dot the size of a punctuation mark suffices for an eye, empty space gives the impression of hair, and sometimes the whole comic dispenses with drawings altogether and succumbs to words on blank, rectangular panels. In another instance, a panel – titled “I Want Something” – is totally blacked out. This kind of expressionist exercise provides a sweet portrait of cartoonist Jason Bradshaw’s frustrations, discomfort, and hopes. Bore contains a particular affection for cats, friends, and the old school Nintendo Entertainment System. In the introduction he writes, almost as a warning, that the zine is “a self- indulgent mess” and that “I made this one for myself” — however, these feelings are rendered in such a way that it’s actually a pleasure to read. Swell stuff! (Chris Landry)