I, the reviewer of Multiversity Comics, in order to form a more perfect critique, establish interest, determine success of intent, provide understanding, promote the general readership, and secure the desired outcome for myself and the readers at large, do ordain and establish this review for the readers of Multiversity Comics.
Cover by R. SikoryakWritten, Illustrated, Colored and Lettered by R. Sikoryak
Color Assists by Brian Michael Weaver
“Constitution Illustrated” is a comic. It is a non-fiction comic. It has very little in the way of new information. It is also a government document, technically. To describe “Constitution Illustrated” is to feel as if one is repeating oneself: it is the Constitution, illustrated. Every paragraph, every line, every word is reproduced, even down to the usage of “chuse” over “choose,” it is a reproduction of the Constitution of the United States, only accompanied by images that illustrate the point of the text. They are single page illustrations that recast famous comics, comic events, panels or simply styles into period attire, and in some cases change the faces to be humans rather than superheroes, though that is less often the case and may be because I am unfamiliar with the specific panels even if I can identify the hero being pastiched.
This is a work I find difficult to review because it does exactly what it intends to be to near perfection but what it says on the tin isn’t something I would sit down to read on a whim. It’s not a narrative, it’s not an educational book on a topic I am interested or unfamiliar in and offers no analysis or even framing. It is simply the Constitution, illustrated, and famous artists’ styles pastiched.
Yet, “Constitution Illustrated” is a fascinating project that I am grateful to have read. Even if there were no elucidations on the meaning behind certain passages or translating them into a more common vernacular, Sikoryak pulls and picks the right image to convey the broad point of each paragraph. The race between Superman and the Flash is repurposed to illustrate the dual nature of our Bi-cameral House & Senate system. Jeff Kinney’s “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” is redone for the recording of each member’s votes. Scrooge McDuck and Huey, Douie, and Louie are representative of the taxes section.
I could go on and on but you get the point. It’s not just that Sikoryak drew scenes to help parse the jargon of the Constitution and its amendments but he also picked styles, artists or stories that are associated with the general topic being discussed or can be repurposed to fit, like Alison Bechdel’s “Dykes to Watch Out For” being used for Section 4, which discusses meeting frequency and when elections for senators and representatives occurs. It’s not as apt as Scrooge McDuck but the style has always lent itself to the dynamism of mundane group shots.
And every page is something different! There’s close to 120 different styles from all eras of comics, from 1890s political cartoons to recent blockbusters like “Saga” to long running comic strips like ‘Garfield” or new ones like “Phoebe and Her Unicorn.” That would be cool in and of itself, thanks to the breadth of styles but Sikoryak perfectly emulates each style, even down to the coloring. There are a few hiccups, like “Saga” not quite capturing what Fiona Staples’ brings so effortlessly to the page, but it’s damn near close. You can believe each page was redrawn by the artists themselves.
Maybe it was a tracing job, which is not to knock tracing as a tool nor as a method of capturing the likeness of a style, but to alter the details of hair, clothes and even faces and keep them consistent with each and every style takes a different set of skills. Jack Davis sitting next to Dave Pilkey, Raina Telgemeier and Bianca Xunise, Noelle Stevenson and Art Spiegelman, Hal Foster and Kazu Kibuishi. So many names I recognize and others I don’t but whose styles and works have left an indelible mark on the comics world and beyond.
Perhaps that’s the point of this project. This could have easily been done in one style, broken down into panels or even made modern with section by section discussion. But instead Sikoryak chose to pick artists that left a lasting impression, that others go back to again and again or have become household names/visuals. The Constitution is a fixture of our lives, whether we think about it daily or not, and so too are some if not all of these artists. They are the We of We the People.
Ultimately, I don’t know who this book is for. It is a teaching aid par excellence, helping make the dry, dusty words gain meaning and spark conversation. It is a game of “can I name this artist’s style.” It is a book that has made me more familiar with a document that is central to our nation but that is often taught as words rather than ideas. With letters instead of pictures. With rote memorization rather than exploratory comprehension. “Constitution Illustrated” isn’t for everybody but, in some way, it is built for all of us.
