Tricked

Alex Robinson's graphic novel Box Office Poison arrived in 2001 to glowing reviews, an Eisner Award, and a legion of fans. BOP featured a cast of distinctively realized characters in pursuit of love, career satisfaction, and Star Wars collectibles -- in other words, normal people getting through life and savoring the small victories that sometimes occur. Robinson's debut is an exquisite example of slice-of-life storytelling that ranks with the finest of his precursors like Harvey Pekar (American Splendor) and Los Bros Hernandez (Love and Rockets) and stands as a tough act to follow. So it's no surprise that in the four years since BOP's release there has been much anticipation among its readers as to how and when Robinson would follow it up.

Happily for members of the Alex Robinson cult their patience has been rewarded. Tricked avoids the sophomore slump by a considerable margin with Robinson taking his formula of intense, character-driven narratives and bold illustration to a new level. Where there were clearly autobiographical elements in BOP, Robinson has moved to a much larger canvas, chronicling the lives of six individuals irrevocably brought together by an act of violence.

The characters in Tricked, for the most part, couldn't be more different that the cast of twentysomething New Yorkers going about their lives in a fairly insular community in Robinson's debut (except for Caprice, who began life as a minor character in BOP). Whether he's writing about the creatively blocked rock star Ray, the lovesick waitress Caprice, or the obsessive rock fan Steve, Robinson's knack for fully realized and believable characters has clearly matured.

Beyond the characters, Robinson's storytelling prowess has grown immensely. Where BOP examined the slow disintegration of relationships as we spiral into the orbits of growing up, Tricked demonstrates how seemingly unconnected people exert a pull on each other, and how fate can bring them together. Also, by cleverly using the structure of counting the chapters backwards, Robinson is showing the reader that sometimes what looks like the end is really the beginning.

As for the art, Robinson still earns high marks for his ability to vividly render broad ranges of emotions, while still being slightly cartoonish. One aspect of Robinson's art that carries over from BOP is the way he shows the gradual physical changes over time of the different characters. At the end, you've barely noticed that scrawny teenage runaway Phoebe has matured into a young woman. The longer nut Steve stays off his meds, the less coherent his voice balloons become, perfectly illustrating his descent into dementia in a way that is at once subtle and devastating. And the voiceless panels at the story's climax successfully capture the moment where a lifetime is compressed into an instantaneous and surreal experience.

A satisfying combination of inspired narrative and stimulating visuals, Tricked sets the bar for its creator and the graphic novel genre even higher.

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