If you haven't read this series by Chaykin it comes recommended. It does play to a lot of Chaykin's strengths and by now some of the trends in so called grittier dramas in comics most likely owe him a huge debt of gratitude for borrowing his tropes. His characters are always fascinating and fully developed and complicated people. No one is likable, there are only degrees of unlikability.
For quite some time now Howard puts his pages together in a piecemeal fashion drawing large panels of a page on one sheet then photoshopping the panels together to form a complete page. For me, one of the interesting aspects of this when I saw an original 'page' was how much gets cropped in the published form.
One of the things about the way Howard has written this series is that it feels a like a robert Altman film in that he is able to keep the story in the books moving forward with his background characters.
For example, in a scene in the first issue of Hey kids! Comics Ray launches into a monologue in the foreground keep the main plot going.
Just before that Benita, who had slept with ray on the slye, is wondering where she left her watch. Then in the background of the panel where Ray is yakking away, Ted brings the watch to to her while Ray which of course implies that she and Ted have a quiet thing going on as well.
It's a complex set up and character building that Chaykin pulls off with ease. It's just a short, brilliant piece of storytelling that happens in front of you but also out of sight.
In this panel Ted pulls back his work in disgust after Bob has written 'bullshit' all over it.
Originally published October 2018
