Johnny Hiro
By Fred Chao
Adhouse Books

On a whole few entire mediums have been forced to fight as uphill a battle for legitimacy as sequential art. The past quarter-century has seen a number of breakthroughs in the battle, of course, with graphic novels of various stripes racking up lauds from academics and practitioners of high art and literature alike. In the process, however, one fundamental aspect of the art form has, perhaps, more often that not been sacrificed in favor of critical recognition: fun.

In the oft self-serious world of alternative comics, that once-essential cornerstone can prove rather elusive, and while we’d certainly be the last to decry graphic novels for being “overly serious,” it’s important not to lose sight of the humor and adventure that first drew so many of us to comics in the first place—both qualities that Johnny Hiro possesses in spades.

What artist Fred Chao has created with this volume is a rather graceful balancing act, focused a 20-something food service employee with little in the way of long-term career planning (in those respects a rather stock character in an independent comics scene so often focused on the insular troubles of their creators), who is rather clumsily thrust into adventure scenarios that often arrive in the form of real life manifestations of Asian pop culture—Hiro’s world is poplulated by giant lizards, Voltron-like robot teams, and samurai tech employees in business suits.

The book’s references expand beyond that continent as well. Chao’s book is a rollicking love letter to boundary-less pop-culture, which, by the end, has embraced everything from Night Court to Brand Nubian, with a clean visual approach that seems something of a cross between contemporary Manga and Herge, accented by some rather both layouts thanks to Chao’s keen eye for cityscapes and action scenes.

Chao shoves a lot into Johnny Hiro, sometimes at the expense of a cohesive storyline, but such indiscretions are easy to forgive—or even overlook entirely—in a book that’s this much fun.

–Brian Heater

[Above, Eleanor Davis gets Stinky. Below, the smell of Dispatch in the morning.]

• Freddie and Me creator Mike Dawson, who also has an OGN titled Ace Face on the way from Adhouse, is back at the webcomics collective Act-I-Vate on February 17th with Jack and Max Escape from the End of Time.
• Picturebox Inc. extends its celebratory Yes We Can sale for another week, ’till February 8th.  Highlights include Lauren Weinstein’s oversized The Goddess of War for $7.95, and the typically $95 Gary Panter marked down to $30.  Take advantage now before inaugural hopes and unbelievable markdowns are dashed by the march of time.
• The Louvre moves into the 21st century with its exhibition “Small Design: The Louvre invites Comics.” Currently underway at the famous French museum, it includes live digital drawings and displays of both traditional comics and manga.  Biff! Pow! Comics aren’t just for fine art philistines anymore!
• Eleanor Davis, at the tender age of just 25, was recently recognized with a 2009 Theodor Seuss Geisel (a.k.a. Dr. Seuss) Award for her Toon Books beginning reader graphic novel Stinky, about overcoming prejudice towards the differently monstrous.
• The Alternative Press Fair takes place in London on February 1st from 12 PM to 6 PM, with the added bonus of being free, free, free!

–Laura Hudson