Read Recently: “Box Office Poison” by Alex Robinson
Title: Box Office Poison
Author: Alex Robinson
Origins: I hadn’t heard of Robinson until I spent the day in Ann Arbor with my friend Carla Borsoi. In late afternoon, we visited the Vault of Midnight comic book store where Ms. Borsoi thrust this graphic novel into my hands and said "You must read this." I’ve heeded her advice.
Synopsis: A small group of friends deal with dead-end jobs, crappy apartments, and indecipherable relationships make a go of it in mid 90s New York City.
Verdict: If the characters on Friends were actually people you wanted to hang out with, you’d have BOP. Ed, Sherman and crew are likeable, flawed and real. Their problems everyday instead of melodramatic. The subplot involving an exploited artist from the golden age of comics rides hard on the break of geekery but avoids falling over because Mr. Robinson has a soul as well as reverence for the form.
The plot doesn’t exactly break new ground and if you weren’t tumbling into adulthood at that time, the period details might not resonate. But if you’ve ever been young, lost and confused, Alex Robinson is your new best friend. I don’t care if this book of his has been done before. He does it with more heart and style than his antecedents. And I want to read him doing it again.