The Poet by Todd Webb comics review

The Poet collection, Volume One

The Poet is a comic strip by Todd Webb. If you are not familiar with it, I encourage you to check it out. There are a number of ways to dive in, including purchasing a full collection or sampler book. First off, you can check it out online. The following are some of my own thoughts on the comic strip format in general and how Todd Webb’s remarkable comic strip fits into this tradition.

The art of the comic strip is a very specific format. What do I mean? Well, there are the differences in dynamics between superhero vs. indie; or the traditional art world vs. the comics medium. And then there’s the comic strip which most definitely has its own very specific turf. Honestly, sometimes I wonder if the diehard fan base for comic strips and graphic novels overlap very much. So, when you hear someone say, “Oh, it’s all just comics!” that is pure nonsense. Comics is not one big pot of stew. However, at the end of the day, I’d still like to think that there’s enough common ground. Anyway, this is all to say that I realize I spend a lot of time with issues dealing with the graphic novel, or what aficionados like to call, “long-form comics.” However, I also love comic strips, or “short-form comics,” and I like to create them as much as I do graphic novels. Basically, there’s a big shift in how you approach either one and only a few comics artist would dare to seriously pursue both. The best example I can give you is Bill Griffith, known for his ongoing comic strip, Zippy the Pinhead, who in more recent years has also maintained a regular output of some very significant graphic novels. With all that in mind, I shift gears to a comics artist who has focused his efforts on the comic strip with some fabulous results, Todd Webb, the creator of the ongoing comic strip, The Poet.

From a recent The Poet post.

There are a number of elements and traits unique to comic strips, a creature of the newspaper, with a whole set of traditions. What Todd Webb does best is respect those traditions and contribute something uniquely his own. That happens in many ways, both instantly and over a period of time. It begins with a notion that the cartoonist plays with; and that leads to a thought-out scene; and, ultimately, to a resolution which, in the case of The Poet, tends to be a gag or punchline of some kind involving a gentle poet and a skeptical pigeon.

The Poet and sampler books.

One of the most fascinating qualities of a comic strip is its potential for delivering something pleasant, even compelling, over and over again, in a very familiar setting, a pattern led by its anchoring main character. You have these things in graphic novels, of course, but not to such a formalized level–and perhaps that is one of the things that diehard fans find so attractive, a love affair with the familiar. Well, I see that Todd Webb understands this very well. The fact is that the loyal fan of the comic strip enjoys a good laugh delivered in a certain way and comic strips have this built-in delivery mechanism. If you honor that, you’re on the right track.

Comic strips, by their very nature, are compact and tend to not mince words. In fact, a verbose comic strip seems to go against the whole spirit of the format. The best example of a wordy, perhaps sometimes too wordy, comic strip has got to be Doonesbury. The gold standard is to make every single word count, very concise, near to a haiku. And the prize for the best example, arguably, is Peanuts. Here is where the diehard fans get their kicks in comparing who is best. And, I gotta say, it can be some pretty wacky fun. Apparently, the biggest rivalry is between fans of Peanuts and fans of the original Nancy. And, here again, I believe that Todd Webb fully appreciates the tropes, the canon, the whole tradition–and he delivers.

Comic strips are, as I say, a whole world onto themselves, just like New Yorker cartoons. You can push boundaries and limits but there’s much to say for keeping true to what works. One of the most distinguishable traits of any comic strip that wants to keep to the old school standards is regularity. If the cartoonist can set up a routine and platform that keeps this engine going, then the path is clear. Once you have created this well-oiled machine, you just keep delivering. You refine here and there. You make adjustments. But you ultimately stay on brand, whatever it is that you have cultivated. This is exactly what Webb has managed to construct over a series of various experiments. Finally, he hit upon something he was compelled to dedicate a substantial amount of time and effort: an elder gentleman poet and his wisecracking pigeon cohort. It’s a simple and clear concept and it delivers. You can find Webb’s latest comic strips on his Instagram and then you can take a deeper dive on his Substack. Plus, of course, you can buy his books and whatever else he might have for sale on his site.