Today, ex-MC writer and good friend Joshua Mocle bestows upon us a tribute to the late, great Phonogram, a comic whose last issue unfortunately came out yesterday. Phonogram is the only comic Joshua ever wrote about during his time with MC, and since he is, was, and always will be the reason I will read Phonogram and cry that there will never be another issue, I entrusted him to give a fond farewell to the series.
February 10, 2010: today, the final issue of Phonogram 2: The Singles Club at long last made it to (most) comic shop shelves (had to hit two stores before I found it, but that’s neither here nor there.) The future of a third volume is highly in doubt due largely to sales figures on the first two volumes being too low to continue on. To all the fanboys who did not catch on to this magnificent marriage of the comic book medium with music nerd subculture chique I have only this to say:
YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES.
Now, I will be perfectly blunt: my multi-media based obsession is more or less divided down the middle with graphic fiction on one side and independent music of most genres, specifically when manifested on colored vinyl, on the other. I don’t rank one over the other (though there are days when one pulls SLIGHTLY ahead depending on my mood and location), but the great thing about Phonogram was that the dichotomy between my vices didn’t exist! They were, more or less, completely melded both in presentation as well as subject matter (even if I didn’t really get more than half of the indie-pop references being made…and even if I STILL don’t like TV on the Radio OR the Pipettes…Los Campesinos! are alright though.)
In the first volume (reviewed by me on this very site last summer), writer Kieron Gillen and artist Jamie McKelvie adeptly introduced us to the universe of David Kohl and Phonomancy all the while tackling an issue so very often faced by even the most novice of music nerds: what happens when “your music” and “your scene” stops being yours and morphs into something you can barely even recognize? The book gave a voice to every music fan who knew, from the bottom of their self-loathing black souls, that music was much more than music and the effect it has on you and the world around you is nothing short of magical.
For Volume 2, the tone shifted. Instead of the grand, overarching epic feel of the first volume we were met with a different approach: seven single issue stories chronicling seven different perspectives on one archetypal DJ night at the club with no name. While the approach had shifted, the impact not only stayed the course but even grew stronger as the series progressed. By shifting perspectives to and from those both deeply engrossed in Phonomancy and those who were perfectly happy as a casual fan, Gillen and McKelvie managed to illustrate the different facets of their world (which bears a striking resemblance to our own) and paint a much more vivid interpretation of the idea of “music=magic=music.” Quite simply, it was a music/comic nerds match made in heaven (and for the record, it was that BEFORE the Mastodon piece toward the end of issue 7…that just sealed the deal.)
And now it’s done…the divorce is final and its back to paying child support to two equally overbearing vices…and you are probably to blame (and I don’t mean the royal you either, I mean YOU, shmuck.)
Chances are if you’re reading this, you may or may not know what I’m talking about when I say things like “phonomancy” or “indie -pop” or “archetypal” (though to be fair that last one was just me showing off my shiny Canadian education) and, just to clarify, I am going to say that if you don’t know at least the second one then you are a HORRIBLE HUMAN BEING. In fact, now that I think of it…I think they were playing a f&%$ing STAIND song in the store when I picked up the final part of this most excellent tribute to diverging cultures.
Continued belowI’ve known a lot of comic fans who take pride in the fact that they exist parallel to modern culture. As far as scenes go, comic readership spent a long time on the outer edges and are only now starting to penetrate (hehe…penetrate) the mainstream. If we were really doing our counter-cultural duty, we’d be striving to at the very LEAST bring a new perspective into the spotlight with us, rather than paying homage to the played out and homogenized. If we were actually the kind of people we should be, Phonogram would be in its third year as an ongoing and Kieron Gillen would be writing an X-Book that DOESN’T get cancelled before the SIXTH F*&%ING ISSUE.
YOU SHOULD ALL BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF.
Now go buy a record player and some Black Flag LPs and let’s get this ship righted! Oh also, go buy the trade of Phonogram 2 when it hits shelves because god knows how many series have been saved due to trade paperback sales. If you don’t, I’ll tell all your friends about how you write love letters to Power Girl and Rogue while listening to Seether Mp3s.
Joshua Mocle is aware that many might be offended by 90% of what he writes…he sends high fives to the lingering 10%. To read his rants about things that DON’T have to do with comics (AKA punk rock and burritos), please click here.
