Bluefuzz the Hero by Jesse Reklaw

Bluefuzz the Hero
Jesse Reklaw
Self-Published

The creative mind of Jesse Reklaw has come up with yet another brilliant idea. The man who brought us Applicant and keeps up regularly with his syndicated comic Slow Wave is also in the habit of making outstanding minicomics. It’s hard to imagine a four-time Ignatz-nominated artist like Reklaw coming out with a book that’s less than impressive, so I set my standards high, and I still think it’s one of the most satisfying minis I’ve ever read.

Bluefuzz the Hero is a comedy written in a folkloric style about a guy with a blue fuzzy head and an epic life. He tries to do right but he’s generally pretty feisty and in the first few pages this gets him exiled from his village. The rest of the mini is about Bluefuzz’s adventures in the wild as he climbs mountains and faces innumerable challenges all with the hope of going back home again. But does he, friends? Does he? It will cost you $4 and and some postage sent to Mr. Reklaw to find out.

I think the cover of this mini is gorgeous. It’s so simple, but then you turn to the first page and read the title “Bluefuzz the Hero” in white text over an oval of black crosshatching. Some of those hatched lines lead your eye down to Bluefuzz holding a long sword, it grabs your interest and suddenly there’s something you want to learn about Bluefuzz’s sad, deadpan face.

The comic is black and white, but the stories are broken up with full-color illustrations, paintings that Reklaw has included to set the pace and help create an image of Bluefuzz that goes beyond the script. The paintings make Bluefuzz the Hero feel like a hero’s story in the old style, one that has been retold a thousand times and inspired priceless works of art.

Each page has a unique layout. The comic isn’t boxed in by grids, it moves around the page however it needs to. This lends nicely to the loose, fluid way in which Reklaw has decided to draw this particular black and white comic. The story is easy to read and really fun too. A lot of the language and narration is very colloquial and modern, which could be tiresome, but it gets broken up nicely by wordless pages or standard prose.

Bluefuzz the Hero is the kind of mini it’s great to own because it’s beautiful and creative and well-executed but it’s not so precious that you couldn’t lend it out. It’s one-of-a-kind, but it’s also in its second printing. Hopefully there will be enough copies of this hand-made 28-page book to go around. It’s pretty great.

-Sarah Morean