Chester Brown: An Introduction

The Little Man: Short Strips, 1980-1995
Writer/Artist/Letterer/Super-Human: Chester Brown
New revised paperback edition: June 2006
Drawn & Quarterly


It was only until recently that I became aware of Chester Brown's existence. A friend claimed that he thought I would appreciate Brown's sensibilities and so lent me his copy of The Little Man. Upon my first flip-through of the book I found certain out-of-context panels to be humourous and amusing, but figured that a compilation book wouldn't do much to arouse anything substantial in my brain other than a few moments of comedic relief.

I can safely write (and enthusiastically so) that my predilections were wrong and that my friend was right. I'd even make the case that some of Brown's two-pagers pack more punch than an entire volume of superhero comics (take that Scott Lobdell!). Rather than summarize and spoil the entirety of The Little Man, I will review a select amount of stories, so as to give you an idea of what makes Chester Brown such an accomplished creator.

But before I do that... Here's a brief description of the contents of the book: The Little Man is a collection of Brown's previously published short comic strips and stories. Some of them appeared in magazines and newspapers, others in various anthology comics (mainly in Brown's serialized comic Yummy Fur), some of which Brown has expanded on in his other works. The Little Man is arranged chronologically and includes only his professionally published works as an adult (he had his first strip published when he was just twelve years-old!). Most of the stories in The Little Man are less than ten pages long, with a good portion of his earlier works falling under the five page range. Brown, at least with this collection, portrays himself as a quality-over-quantity storyteller; the ol' less-is-more approach. Which is, being someone who used to read 20+ superhero ongoings for the better part of three years, refreshing.

"The Toilet Paper Revolt" (1980)

The Little Man opens with "The Toilet Paper Revolt" from 1980. This story is a whopping four pages long, but don't let its length detract from its ability to, err... tell an engaging story. It's rather simple actually: toilet paper has exterminated the human race, save for one man. "The Toilet Paper Revolt" is about the toilet papers' quest to finally eradicate humanity once and for all.

Sounds silly and kind of absurd, right? On one hand, "The Toilet Paper Revolt" is amusing in a what-the-fuck-am-I-reading kind of way. On the other, it's a dark metaphor about human exceptionalism that leaves the reader feeling cold and removed by the end. The toilet paper existed solely to serve human beings and keep them clean, but in killing all of the humans off, they have become dirty in an entirely unintentional way. Might I add that humans are the creator of toilet paper, which brings to mind a Frankenstein influence here (the created killing the creator), although there clearly isn't much reflection about the creation, nor is the creator in sight.

One toilet paper asks, "What's toilet paper good for anyway? What can we do?!" This question is relevant to most human commodities and products - just what good are these things without us to use them? In our demise, humanity has left behind a capitalist culture and world with which to rot and further disturb other forms of life. Brown creates a philosophical dilemma and somehow manages to bring in a slice of existentialism into the mix with his story about rebellious anthropomorphized rolls of toilet paper. Brown by no means provides answers for the question the toilet paper have raised, but the ability to merge philosophical thought with such an absurd idea is a testament to Brown's creativity and inventiveness. And "The Toilet Paper Revolt" is from the beginning of his career. Wait until you read about what story The Little Man closes with...

*Fun fact: the cover of The Little Man features a twelve-panel story about Brown's initial idea for "The Toilet Paper Revolt." Scroll back up to the first image and read it!"*

Something I've noticed with Chester Brown's storytelling is that he typically goes in one of two directions with his stories: the first direction follows a surrealist/absurdist humour mentality, which often has something abstract and complex unfolding beneath the surface. The second direction, developed later in his career, has a much more serious tone, one that is simple yet carries a certain detachment with it. Before I delve into the work I categorize as falling in the second direction, let's continue with another from the first.

"Bob Crosby and his Electric T.V." (1982)
Story can be read here:
http://cinemacanada.athabascau.ca/index.php/cinema/article/view/4136/4172

Published two years after "The Toilet Paper Revolt," "Bob Crosby and his Electric T.V." sees Brown both expand on his absurdist humour as well as strengthen his ability to implement critical thought in his work. Yet another short and sweet story (clocking in at a mere five pages), "Bob" features the titular character who, as you can see on the left, takes orders from his television set. Bob is quite literally told to go do an array of questionable acts, from drawing mustaches on the women in his TV Guide to writing a letter to his MP suggesting that all oriental people in Canada be killed. Not once does Bob question the TV's authority.

Bob isn't without his limits though. He eventually snaps and chucks the TV set out his window. He then tries to get it repaired, but with no luck. He purchases a new set, but this one doesn't appear to speak directly to him like his old one did. The story ends with Bob apparently zoning out to a program on his new TV. Did his old TV set actually speak directly to him (as opposed to at him)? Was his TV brainwashing him to do illegal deeds? Or were these hallucinations? The answer is up to the reader to decide, but what is more important here is what Brown is suggesting with this story.

The mysterious narrator speaking (perhaps Brown himself?)

Clearly a satire, "Bob" is an examination of the power and control that television has on its viewers. The story is an exaggeration of the influence of television, however it's simultaneously truthful and terrifying in that people, whether conscious of it or not, do in fact do and buy things because they saw them on TV. Talk shows, "reality" television, advertising, The Shopping Channel... The list goes on. The TV is a force that, if watched enough, can significantly alter one's opinions and lead them to make decisions that they otherwise would not have made had they not been told that they needed to purchase the latest "innovative" product. This isn't to say that anyone who watches TV is immediately brainwashed and lacks autonomy and self-assertion, but rather that advertising is so effective that in many cases, viewers can be convinced that they need something when in actuality, they could continue their lives without said product and be perfectly happy and healthy.

In the afterward of The Little Man, Brown mentions that he thinks his examination of television is unfocused, despite claiming to have already read Jerry Mander's Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television at the time of "Bob's" publication. For anyone interested in the critique of television culture, Mander's book is a close and in depth analysis of a multitude of aspects relating to the television itself and the effects it has had on the economy, the communication of information, the effects it has had on the human psyche, and plenty of other topics.

Brown's friend critiquing a panel from "Helder" (1989) in "Showing 'Helder'" (1990)

The final story I'll be discussing is entitled "Showing 'Helder.'" Published in the beginning of 1990, "Showing 'Helder'" is one of Brown's autobiographical comics, many of which he began creating in the late 1980s and through the 90s. The previous year Brown created the short story "Helder," which is about one of Brown's obnoxious yet enigmatic roommates who went by the name Helder. While working on this 21-page story Brown was riddled with doubt and insecurity during the creative process. He relied on sharing "Showing 'Helder'" with several friends to gather their thoughts and opinions towards his latest effort in an attempt to decide which panels to keep and which needed scrapping.

Among the plethora of interesting aspects of this story (besides the meta nature and the inside look into Brown's creative process) is Brown's lack of square paneling. Every story prior to "Showing 'Helder'" in The Little Man features identically shaped and sized square panels, which typically have six per page. "Showing 'Helder'" does not have this format. Each panel is free-floating on the page, lacking the borders that became synonymous with Brown's work. It's as if Brown removed the borders so as to represent the spontaneous and fluid nature of idea formation and creation (as is seen in later stories in The Little Man, Brown experiments with panel placement and deviates from his previous style of six neatly placed panels, opting for different sizes and asymmetrical panel placement).

First two pages of "Showing 'Helder'" (1990)

Returning to what I mentioned previously about what I've dubbed as Brown's 'two storytelling directions,' "Showing 'Helder'" falls in the latter category. While "The Toilet Paper Revolt" and "Bob Crosby and his Electric T.V." are absurdist, darkly humourous, and satirical, "Showing 'Helder'" is a quieter story about personal reflection and the struggle of the creative process. This type of story is indicative of Brown's maturation as a storyteller, both in content and form. While Brown already had an established voice with "Revolt" and "Bob," "Showing 'Helder'" introduces readers to his more varied and nuanced storytelling style that is present in later stories "Knock Knock" (1993) and "My Mom was a Schizophrenic" (1995).

"Showing 'Helder'" sees Brown flourish as a creator into new and exciting terrain. From what I've read and researched, Brown has several autobiographical works, albeit longer, fuller stories, that expand on the honesty and sincerity present in Brown's depiction of himself and his work. The Little Man has certainly been worth my time, both in the reading of it and in my reflection of it afterwards. I hope you will seek it out and give this Canadian alternative comics guru a chance. As an introduction to the work of an acclaimed independent comics creator, it doesn't get much more varied and well-crafted as this.

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