“Magpie” is a book that has more in common with poetry anthologies than it does with graphic novels. There’s a flightiness to the collection that makes it hard to put in on the same shelf as other pieces of graphic fiction. Which is not to say the art isn’t good (it is), or the short, dreamlike, vignettes don’t have weight (they do). Just that it is a little tricky to talk about “Magpie” as a single, focused piece of work.
Written and Illustrated by Kathryn BriggsCover by Kathryn BriggsMagpie is a collection of short comics by Kathryn Briggs that have previously appeared in anthologies such as Dirty Rotten Comics and new, never before released strips.
“Magpie” consists of twenty-four short comics, many of which clock in at four pages or less. The subject matter of the collection is far-ranging but intensely personal. From an extended anecdote about her immigration to the United Kingdom, to stories about the ‘Wall Cats’ who live outside her house on a dead-end street, Kathryn Briggs invites her readers to take a direct look into her life. She shows off the things that bring her joy alongside revelations of the darker elements of her life and personality.
In the segments that feel less directly applicable to her life, like a selection of scenes from various Shakespeare plays, Briggs still manages to make the subject matter feel personally important. She is fond of images of witches and goddesses, and uses the literary tropes associated with both to tell short stories of female empowerment and rebellion against the status quo.
While the content of this anthology might be a little scattered, the art is anything but. Briggs shows off a robust and versatile, realistic style over the course of the collection. The specifics of the style change from segment to segment. First, bold tri-color, red, black and white in the opening ‘Invocation.’ Then hauntingly light pencils and delicate watercolors that deepen to white charcoal pencils over black in ‘Time in Color.’ No matter what the details of the color or illustration are, the style is firmly grounded in realistic representation. But Briggs takes advantage of the framing and panels of her pages to add surreal elements, and is particularly fond of capturing small pieces of an image across a number of panels.
Briggs also has a penchant for illustrating on existing media. A number of the shorts are drawn directly onto maps, newsprint or even a recreation of a monthly calendar, the cells of the days turned into novel framing mechanisms. One of the segments, ‘Gently Murder Me,’ a collaboration with writer Rebecca Epstein, features art that seems to be drawn over the crumpled contents of a wastepaper basket, wrinkles, torn edges and all.
In each of these cases, the use of the pre-existing media helps to contextualize the tone of the piece. The use of rubbish in ‘Gently Murder Me’ reinforces the character’s self-identification as trash in the wake of an abusive relationship. In ‘08226,’ the shapes of the East Coast of the US, New Jersey and the islands off of Scottland help to illustrate the strain of distance on family ties and the strong associations between family and the places we call home. Another piece, titled “Pieces of Earth” uses maps again, but this time as a metaphor for guidance as the text of the short prays to the Hindu goddess Durga for protection and wisdom.
The creative use of compositional elements, combined with Briggs’ impressive style is what raises “Magpie” to something worth seeking out. On their own, the pieces showcased here hint at the talent of the artist. When taken together, they reveal her versatility and passion, even as she exposes some very personal elements of her life to us.
In the center of the anthology, there is a short, four-page spread titled ‘Tabling.’ Visually, it’s probably one of the least impressive, consisting of simple black and white panels in a fairly standard two by three layout. They contain variations on a single image: the view from behind a table at a comic convention. Across the four pages, Briggs talks about some of the things that keep us fandom; the acceptance and comradery that define the community when it is at its best. There were other, more artistically impressive sections of the anthology, but I kept coming back to ‘Tabling’ as my one of my favorite pieces in the book.
As noted at the very beginning, it is somewhat hard to put a singular rating on “Magpie.” There is just too much variety in the collection to boil the whole thing down to a rave review or a bland pass. Kathryn Briggs’ versatility and love of the art form are definite draws. But the anthology is probably a little less effective due to its lack of focus. It at least makes me curious about Briggs’ more focused efforts, and in that sense, at least fulfils the goals of any anthology work.
