Space to Play

Prompt III.

While artists like Jacques Tardi could create beautiful iamges and Yoshihiro Tezuka could explore huge ideas and tensions, Frank King created the best solo comic the class has read this year. While the collaborative process lends itself to challenging view points and creating interesting discussion, the solo artist can concentrate more on conveying a singular message, idea, tone or feeling. Gasoline Alley strikes me as one of these simple, beautiful works. Don't get me wrong, I don't laud it for taking on important issues of making new philosophical claims, but it creates an object pleasing to consume.
King's style of detailed backgrounds and more vague character really allows the reader to immerse themselves in the comic and experience it to it's fullest. The dialogue remains simple, but focused on the image. The gutter remains clean and tidy, actions, words and characters don't bleed between panels. Movement and action don't hold the primary spot, but their absence allow the reader to focus on the image.
In philosophical jaunts along untrammeled paths, one might over reach easily. Frank King keeps his view from becoming overbearing, forced or pretentious. Relaxing imagery, simple dialogue and a down to earth tone work wonders here. In my eyes, the series has a clear style that all elements contribute to in meaningful ways. They don't work against each other and showcase a comic in which tension becomes unnecessary to keeping me coming back.Alone, Frank King has an uncluttered space to play.