Tag Archives: Cars

June 6, 2020 · 8:25 pm

Review: CRASH COURSE by Woodrow Phoenix, published by Street Noise Books

CRASH COURSE by Woodrow Phoenix

Crash Course. by Woodrow Phoenix. Street Noise Books. Brooklyn, New York , 2020, $16.99.

Woodrow Phoenix provides a compelling case against the automobile in Crash Course, a work in comics. This is an excellent example of the power of the comics medium. Phoenix masterfully distills his argument into images and concise text that engage the reader. Phoenix drives home the point that cars are a devil’s bargain. Whether you own one or not, we all have to live with them, the price to pay for civilization. Phoenix filters brilliant facts, examples and accounts into an artful framework that ensures it will resonate and be retained by the reader. This is what the power of comics, and the world of visual storytelling, is all about. Cars! So easy to be seduced by them. Cars! So easy to be killed by them. Cars are easily turned into weapons, by accident or intentionally.

Page from CRASH COURSE

Our life with cars is indeed complicated. We’ve become so dependent upon them. Our daily routine, our everyday environment, is dominated by cars. Phoenix keeps his narrative streamlined and accessible. There are no abrupt detours. Phoenix provides a smooth path as he presents facts and commentary, both thoughtful and artful. It’s quite literally a smooth path as all humans have been eliminated from this narrative. We’re just left with empty streets, parking lots and freeways. Phoenix really gets into the head of the reader and provides some priceless observations like this: “Drivers get frustrated when pedestrians fail to behave with appropriate gratitude and deference for being allowed on a street. Pedestrians should not dawdle. Pedestrians should cross streets as quickly as possible. Hurry up. Run. Listen, it’s for their own safety.” Mix this with some cold hard facts: “City planners and traffic engineers are responsible for our entire transit environment. But in practice that means one thing. ‘Providing roadway conditions that contribute to smooth and efficient traffic flow. Flow. Flow is what it’s all about. Keep the traffic moving. A wide, clear, straight street is a good street. But people on foot or on bicycles barely register as traffic. They are slow, erratic, unpredictable, inconvenient impediments to flow.”

Panel excerpt from CRASH COURSE

As an avid pedestrian, I was really taken with this book. I prefer to walk. I like to take long walks, barefoot when possible. I’ll do my best to find some peace and time for reflection during a walk but usually not for very long. Soon enough, I’ll be interrupted by whatever I have to do next involving a car. Either it’s a car idling in a carport on the verge of pulling out. Or a car at a stop sign with the driver taking a phone break. Or a crosswalk that may or may not be acknowledged. When I was a kid, I saw this brilliant animated short that depicted a world completely run by cars, or at least that’s what it looked like to the intergalactic visitors observing Earth. That’s how I feel sometimes: the world is run by cars and we humans are only grudgingly tolerated. Woodrow Phoenix would appear to agree. However, it was a bit of a shock to discover at the very end of this book that Phoenix not only owns a car, he owns a sporty Mini Cooper One. Well, life is complicated. Phoenix didn’t have to reveal that but I’m glad that he did. I understand.

Panel excerpt from CRASH COURSE

Crash Course: If You Want To Get Away With Murder Buy A Car is a 208-page fully illustrated trade paperback, available starting August 4, 2020. For more information, visit Street Noise Books right here.

Graphic Novel Review: ‘Steve McQueen in Le Mans’

“Steve McQueen in Le Mans” by Sandro Garbo and Garbo Studio

“Steve McQueen in Le Mans” is a new graphic novel by Swiss artist Sandro Garbo that brings to life in heroic fashion a movie steeped in heroic fashion. It’s more than that. This is what a graphic novel can do when it aims for the stars and pulls out all the stops. This is the first book in a series and it knocks your socks off!

The pit crew gathers.

If you were a young and hip guy, like Steve McQueen, you not only closely followed race car driving, you were a race car driver. Certainly, the popularity of racing has never dimmed. But it was definitely riding a special crest of cool in McQueen’s day. In 1970, McQueen decided to honor his passion by starring in a film about a fictional 24-hour race at Le Mans. While the movie was not a box office hit, it has become a cult favorite. What Sandro Garbo and his team of artists have done is give the whole movie project a high sheen of luster capturing the excitement in a most compelling manner.

The worlds of comics and cinema are both similar and quite distinct from each other. Some things that work in a movie do not carry over so well in comics or will work in a whole different way. Where the movie, with its heavy cinéma vérité style allows the camera to gorge on each and every detail it picks up, this graphic novel adaptation chooses wisely on what to focus upon.

Gambling with your life.

Garbo Studio has distilled what makes the McQueen movie so cool. A lot of what is going on in the movie, and in this book, is a study in cool. I’m not sure there’s one thing wrong with the movie except for satisfying more of a niche audience. The graphic novel, by virtue of its audacious vision, exemplary composition and artistry, simply soars on its own unique merits.

Essentially, all you need to know is that Steve McQueen plays the role of race car driver Michael Delaney. He has a rival who he is determined to give his comeuppance. There are thrills and chills. Both the movie and the book are visually gorgeous in their own ways. Both are as cool as hell. This is a big coffee table art book that will satisfy just about anyone, no prior interest in race cars required.

“Steve McQueen in Le Mans” is a 64-page full-color hardcover, 10″ x 13.5,” published by Garbo Studio. For more details, and how to purchase, visit Garbo Studio right here.

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Filed under Cars, Classic Cars, Comics, Graphic Novel Reviews, graphic novels, Illustration, Sports, Steve McQueen

Tagged as Art, Art Books, Cars, Classic Cars, comics, Entertainment, Graphic Novel Reviews, graphic novels, Illustration, Media, Pop Culture, Publishing, Race Cars, Steve McQueen

July 30, 2015 · 4:30 pm

Review: ‘Steve McQueen: Full Throttle Cool’

Give me a good biography in a comics format anytime. The new graphic novel version of the life of actor and race car driver Steven McQueen is straightforward and appealing. Make no mistake, Steve McQueen was one serious race car driver as “Steve McQueen: Full Throttle Cool,” published by Motorbooks, bears out. Written by Dwight Jon Zimmerman and illustrated by Greg Scott, we zigzag between the movie set and the race track as the remarkable life of a true legend unfolds.

Steve McQueen was nobody’s fool and I’m sure he would have appreciated this book’s no nonsense approach. There’s really no overreaching to get inside Mr. McQueen’s head. The amazing facts speak for themselves. Raising himself out of great adversity, by the age of 16, he was already a Merchant Marine. He excelled in a rugged and military environment. As a Marine, he rescued five Marines from a sinking boat. This led him to be assigned to Pres. Truman’s Honor Guard. Shortly after that, McQueen would study acting.

In a confident chronological narrative, with a few flashbacks, we see how uncertain McQueen’s career choice would be, even after he had gained notoriety. We gain a greater understanding of the landmark films he starred in such as the celebrated “The Great Escape” and “Bullitt.” All done in a bold realistic drawing style, this is one adventure you won’t want to miss. I can’t think of anyone who would not have anything but praise for Steve McQueen and this book honors his legacy.