With “100%,” Paul Pope wanted to make a “fictional story where everything in the story is absolutely true.” He mined stories of what happened to him, to his friends, to other people he knew, crafting this science-fiction romance comic. It was also originally conceived when he was working for Kodansha, and though Vertigo finally released the book in 2002, it still bears many manga-inspired elements. Like most of Pope’s work, it blends a wide variety of influences and interests to create a visceral and unique experience.
Written and Illustrated by Paul Pope
Toning by Lee Loughridge
Lettered by John Workman
All five issues of the edgy, groundbreaking miniseries from writer/artist Paul Pope are collected in one stunning package. This “graphic movie” tells three separate but interconnected stories in Pope’s trademark dynamic style, shifting viewpoints and characters across the urban maze of 2038 Manhattan. Filled with wit, charm, sex and menace, 100% brings a surprisingly true-feeling future to gritty life. The collection also includes a host of character sketches, designs, and other material from creator Pope.
“100%” takes place over a few days in a not-too-distant-future New York City, focusing on a group of tangentially connected people. There’s Strel, a mother and dance manager of a gastropub, dreaming of opening her own coffee roasting company. There’s also Kim, one of the workers at the club and Strel’s best friend; recently, she’s heard about the murder of a girl she marginally knew and now wants to buy a guy. Though what she’s really looking for is protection, from the city, from reality. Also at the bar, we meet John, an aimless kid finding himself in New York and trying to figure out what to do next. Everything is suddenly made clear when he runs across Daisy, another aimless kid applying to be a dancer at the gastropub. Strel brings Kim to hang out with her brother, Eloy, and the two of them start hanging out more and more together. Eloy is planning an art exhibit comprising of 100 tea kettles all tuned to the same note, a 100 percent harmony sort of situation, but he needs funds to finish it. Finally, there’s Haitous, an aging boxer obsessed with Strel.
These are only the broad strokes of what “100%” is all about. Pope injects so much humanity and personality into all of these characters that a move as simple as waiting for a meeting to start has deep meaning. Their interpersonal relationships, their decisions, their mistakes, their failures are just as investing and interesting as any of the more science fiction elements hanging over the comic.
Yes, there’s a science fiction filter over the whole thing, like Pope couldn’t entirely help himself, but even this plays toward fleshing out the characters. Pope wisely keeps the history in the background, giving only references and hints to the book’s horrible history. These are people living under turmoil, where police blimps patrol the streets and set up roadblocks. There’s been awful disasters weighing on everyone’s mind, but what other choice do they have but to keep going?
Of course, what truly drives this book home is Paul Pope’s cartooning. In the afterword of the trade, he says he was attempting to create a sort of “American manga.” You see it when he pulls out all the dialogue and renders breathtaking sequences in enormous panels, dividing the page into two or three panels. He’ll hold on an expression after an action. Take a look at the scene where Eloy shows Kim his art installation. At home Pope gradually builds up, cutting through the labyrinth of teapots until they all simultaneously go off on that one note. By cutting to Kim in utter disbelief and Eloy in pure ecstasy, Pope helps sell the impact of the scene.
There are a lot of these kind of big revelations all throughout “100%,” but it never feels overdone or overstaying its welcome. Pope is a master at pacing his books, at finding a rhythm in the dialogue and the visuals. It’s a rare for him or letterer John Workman to stack and layer balloons on top of each other. Conversations are spread across panels, giving a beat and cadence to the scene. He cuts the panels tightly, mostly with medium and close-up shots, never letting us fall out of the scene. If he wants to change the set or location, he takes the time to pull in and out of an environment. This is some beat-based comicking and Pope never falls out of sync with the material.
Continued belowPope knows how to present the page. His lines are full of energy. When he goes for the chiaroscuro, he does so boldly, confidently, and with maximum impact. The dude can evoke so much through black-and-white that his and Loughride’s gray tones are almost unnecessary.
For all this, though, there are some elements “100%” is noticeably lacking. Although Pope’s cast is diverse, all of the relationships are heteronormative. Some of the scenes where Daisy dances move beyond the awe and beauty John sees in her and kind of veer into creepy, hormonal territory. Daisy constantly skirts the line between being a fully-realized character and John’s manic dream girl. Some of the endings feel convenient and abrupt, notably Haitous and Strell’s. He also does that thing where some there’s multiple first person narrators across the separate storylines. I can’t decide if I think it works for this book, with its wide breadth and ambition, or is a hindrance, especially because not all the leads in each storyline get their own dialogue box.
Yet this is one of those cases where “100%” does so much so well, any flaw is immediately more obvious, but also swept away the moment another breathtaking piece shows up. By focusing in on his characters, on their interpersonal relationships, their wants and desires conflicting with some other character’s wants and desires, he has made a comic that’s captivating and engrossing. It’s a major piece of work, tackling big subjects but never falling off beat.
