Derik Badman's REPETITION. SOUND. APPROPRIATION.

Repetition. Sound. Appropriation. by Derik A. Badman
August 2007. 16p., 5.5 x 8.5″. Cardstock cover. Black and white, computer printed.
http://www.madinkbeard.com/
Purchased here for $2.5o.

This comic by Derik Badman is not a collection of five stories but rather a collection of five studies in the juxtoposition of sound and image. "Repetition" uses the comics form to study the effect of slightly editing one image over several panels to affect the reader's focus. "Sound" is a study using the same image (a nice drawing of Robert Johnson) in a series of panels but using a different comic book methods of depicting sound in each. "Comic Strip Rapture" is a simple study in comic strip backgrounds, minus the characters. These first three studies are well executed but no more interesting than than a set of illustrations from a film school textbook. I don't say that to belittle the work. On the contrary, I think that is exactly what Badman was shooting for.

The last two studies are more interesting. In "Sound Over", Badman uses series of talking head images from his own webcomic Things Change. In each panel, the word balloon is obscured by a thought box filled with unrelated dialog. The experiment creates an odd yet poetic tone. In "Stolen Birthday Present" Badman appropriates, or steals, comic strip panels published on his birthday. Badman replaces the dialog in each panel with his own text creating what feels like snap shots from one narrative over many years. The idea alone is pretty neat and Badman does a great job copying these classic panels. The resulting comic is a nice little celebration of both the creator's birthday and the genre.

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith