Squid Works: Edge St. Cafe

The Edge St. Cafe

...started as a group of unrelated pages that Gassen had drawn in preparation for a comic book convention in 1988. "The Fugue" story has images stolen from publicity posters Gassen drew for a local band called Electric Third Rail. This story was completed in the mid 1990s. The character, Jordan, was originally based on the character, Constantine, from "The Swamp Thing" comic...

...This 24 page story had an excruciating birth over the span of 10 years. Gassen likes the story and much of the drawings. While it is uneven and at times confusing, Gassen is excited to be finally sharing it with others.

(Front Cover shown to left)

Title: The Edge St. Cafe

Issue Number: 1

Written, illustrated, inked and lettered by Craig Gassen

Intended Audience: Mature Readers

Format: 24 pg b&w half-legal digest.

Retail Price: $2.00 US #0201

(Image from Chapter 2: The Fugue, right)

I picked up "The Edge St. Cafe" on a whim at Majesticon. I found it surprisingly fresh and edgey (as the title implies).

The first story, "Jordan & Molly" centers around the issue of sexual orientation and coming out to your close friend, was very well written, using brevity where images could convey the story more effectively. The panels flowed, carrying the story into the last climaxing page of revelation.

The second story, "The Fugue", I thought was the least effective of the three. It never really hit that climax of reader anticipation for me. It was an interesting story and had some very compelling elements (both visual and story-wise), don't get me wrong, but I thought it would benefit from being more fleshed-out into a separate comic altogether. As it is, there is no resolution (which is perhaps the creator(s) point, that there is no resolution in real life), which lessened my appeal.

The third story, "Entropy Tango", was brilliant. The conflict between rightous religious fevre and over-the-top, Marilyn Manson-isque shock rock is illustrated powerfully in both direct and indirect references (i.e. tv, radio reports of the concert/riot). The story builds slowly (yet tragically) into a symbolic finale, the martyrdom of a rock star. The conclusion is sudden, like the gunshot of the man in black, but then again, that's life for you. Instant fame, instant death. Just add the violent frenzied energy of fans and foes. Perhaps it is this energy to which the story gets its title.

I found this to be a truly exceptional comic, well worthy of reprints and perhaps colourization, though I personally feel that it would take away from the gritty feel of the comic. Thank you Craig Gassen, Steve Csutoras and Stefano Guadiana for this work! ~Janet H., Parker, CO

"Edge St" visions of urban nightmare compelling
"The Edge St. Cafe" is an amazing piece of work by Craig Gassen that is an epic, not because of its 24 page length, but because of its span. In this half-legal digest's forward, Craig explains that the creation of this story is one of 10 years. The book itself is actually 3 separate horror stories that Craig cleverly intertwines into a complete interrelated piece centering around a hangout called "The Edge St. Cafe." "Jordan & Molly", "The Fugue", and "Entropy Tango" are the titles of each chapter. Although each chapter is what can be described as an urban drama, they are distinctly unique and compelling stories on their own. Despite the differences in content and stylistic changes over the 10 years of creation, "Edge St." uses beautiful cinematic changes to tie everything together in moving and, at times, disturbing ways. -Stan Yan

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(Image from Chapter 1: Jordan & Molly)	(Images from Chapter 3: Helstrum & The Entropy Tango)