Book Review: ‘Hi Jax & Hi Jinx: Life’s a Pitch – and Then You Live Forever’ by Dame Darcy

Hi Jax & Hi Jinx: Life’s a Pitch – and Then You Live Forever by Dame Darcy

Dame Darcy is a notable alternative cartoonist who burst upon the scene in the 1990s with her series Meat Cake which was published by Fantagraphics Books from 1993–2008. Her unique “Neo-Victorian” style can also be found in her other roles as fine artist, musician, cabaret performer, and animator/filmmaker. In 2016, Fantagraphics Books issued the omnibus, Meat Cake Bible. Now comes a comprehensive look at the life, work and recollections of Dame Darcy, Hi Jax & Hi Jinx: Life’s a Pitch – and Then You Live Forever, published by Feral House. This is a unconventional memoir befitting such an unconventional figure. For starters, Darcy’s family has theories regarding her great-great-great-uncle John Wilkes Booth. According to Darcy, Booth was a victim of mind control when he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. Not only that, Booth was scurried away after the murder and lived in hiding all thanks to the Illuminati. With that sort of family lore, Darcy has had plenty to tap into in service of her art.

A recurring theme in Darcy’s family is drama and fantasy. Many in her family have performed on stage. It’s that desire to break free from predictable reality that is the driving force behind Darcy, in her life and in her work. The need to escape and create other worlds found itself into little poems, stories, and comics. For example, one such story in this book finds an 11-year-old Darcy exploring the family farm which becomes her own little kingdom. She slips up a trapdoor to the hayloft. With the help from a friend, the hayloft is converted into an art studio. But that’s only the beginning. She discovers a hidden drawer in an old trunk and finds a turquoise necklace. She also finds a note from a little girl who is being held captive by a cult. Then she hears laughter and looks out the window to see a mysterious girl wearing the same necklace as Darcy. The girl keeps staring. Then she smiles but she has no teeth. Suddenly, she does a backflip and disappears. And there you have a taste of a Dame Darcy experience.

Fairy tales are common to all of us and make for a perfect jumping off point to other flights of fancy. Darcy revels in all the fanciful tropes and mashes them up to reveal and confess to the reader and herself. A platform has been set up, made up of whimsy and autobiography, and from it Darcy has reached wondrous heights. With this collection of drawings, comics and observations, Darcy is able to use extended prose to fill in the blanks and bring all the various bits of background into focus. Oddly enough, all the added material, written out as it is, has its own ambiguous charm and doesn’t detract at all from the otherworldly mystery found in her comics. Darcy offers up here a most enchanting book.

Hi Jax & Hi Jinx: Life’s a Pitch – and Then You Live Forever is a 305-page trade paperback, with black & white illustrations, published by Feral House.