Squid Works Offerings

Title: Desperate Souls #2

Synopsis: A collection of diverse stories by Andy

Glass, ranging from the humorous to the bizarre.

Issue Number: 2

Written, illustrated, inked and lettered by Andy Glass

Intended Audience: Mature Readers

Format: 28 pg b&w comic. Multi-color cover.

Retail Price: $3.50 US # 0222

(Front Cover, left)

During the early nineties, it became chic to classify the entire youth culture into a single artistic voice. Ennui and irony were the supposed strict vices of a generation. Desperate Souls #2 would seem from it's title alone like another endless variation using such vices while plotting along aimlessly. But it is not. True, it has wandering twenty-something characters in search of some meaning, but it also has something deeper. "Nova Via" which started in issue one, gently landed us into a realm of fantasy and surprise. Throughout issue two, we begin to look closer into the life of Cheri Haller, a somewhat unappreciated writer. We view her awkward social interaction in parties, and constant expectation of disappointment. Lurking continually in the horizon though, is promise of something magical. It's not quite revealed in this issue what that is, but it keeps us waiting. The second story in the book is a"Para-Bell" a wonderful fairy tale. It is by turns, joyful and enigmatic. It digs deep trenches of emotion. Even though it is a tale of simplistic beauty, it marks a mature step for Mr. Glass. In it, he paints an expansive picture of life in small drawings.

In early 1999 Mr. Glass showed me his working sketches for Desperate Souls. I was impressed then, as I am now. A funny thing occurred a year later. I was rereading my old Love and Rockets, and discovered I was missing some issues. While I was in my local comic book shop hunting for those lost issues, the store owner showed me some local independent cartoonists' work (since he knew I was interested in this sort of thing). I saw in his shop an out of print work by Mr. Glass; Tales from the Fog. I was impressed by his of Love and Rockets influence . Finally, I had met a fellow artist whose work excited me and made stories about our generation. Stories free from all those qualities that are supposed to be de riguer of independent comics. No, irony and ennui are not the order of the day with Mr. Glass and his work. Instead, the reader is treated to modern magic. Desperate Souls #2 is rich book and for only few bucks, quite a bargain.

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(Image from Nova Via)	(Image from Para-Bell)