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Desperate Times
Desperate Times follows the story of two 20-somethings trying to make it in life despite all odds. A comic strip-style collection featuring the work by the Eisner and Harvey nominated Franklin Son of a Genius creator Chris Eliopoulos!
- GenresGraphic Novels
120 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 27, 2022
#ThrowbackThursday - Back in the '90s, I used to write comic book reviews for the website of a now-defunct comic book retailer called Rockem Sockem Comics. (Collect them all!)
From the September 1998 edition with a theme of "Creative Recycling":
INTRODUCTION
Last month's column was about publishers reprinting and repackaging material. This month, I'm going to take a peek at creative recycling.
What's creative recycling? That's when a creator takes elements, plots, characters, themes, traditional frameworks, or artistic styles from another creator or creative work; puts his or her own spin on the material; and produces a work which -- while derivative -- becomes distinctly original and new. Or so it is hoped.
Let's see which of this month's books succeed and which ones fail.
YEARNING FOR BETTER DAYS
DESPERATE TIMES #1 (Image Comics)
I bought DESPERATE TIMES #1 based on the cover image printed in PREVIEWS a few months back. No, I wasn't suckered in by the big-busted babes Erik Larsen (THE SAVAGE DRAGON, SPIDER-MAN) drew for the background. Instead, the three guy buddies in the foreground drew my eye for some reason. I really liked the art style used to depict them. Once I actually received and read DESPERATE TIMES, I realized what had drawn me to that cover: "Calvin & Hobbes."
"Say what?" you ask?
It's easy to explain. Previously I'd only known DESPERATE TIMES' writer/artist Chris Eliopoulos as a letterer of comics, filling the captions and word balloons on such books as Image's THE SAVAGE DRAGON, and DC's IMPULSE, JLA: PARADISE LOST, TEMPEST, and UNDERWORLD UNLEASHED. From now on, though, I'll always think of him as "the guy who draws just like Bill Watterson." Every character in DESPERATE TIMES looks like a slight variation on the parents from "Calvin & Hobbes." The hands, feet, eyes, and facial expressions are exactly drawn to the "Calvin & Hobbes" model. Exactly. Painstakingly.
And this is not a good thing, folks.
Sure, it's a novelty for about three minutes. "Hey, look, a comic drawn just like 'Calvin & Hobbes!'" But once Eliopoulos' art starts making you think of Watterson's art, you can't help but compare the quality of their writing. And this is where Eliopoulos is way off model. "Calvin & Hobbes" was hilarious. DESPERATE TIMES is tepid. "Calvin & Hobbes" could be immensely moving. DESPERATE TIMES is superficial. "Calvin & Hobbes" was outrageous and farfetched. DESPERATE TIMES is tame and pedestrian.
DESPERATE TIMES recounts the adventures and misadventures of a pair of single, twentysomething roommates: Marty & Toad. They're your basic run-of-the-mill slackers, fixated on beer, babes, and bowel movements. The entire first issue revolves around Toad's anxiety that he has gotten fat. In the course of the story, Eliopoulos takes a few gentle stabs at human insecurities, self-help books, and health gyms. He also employs "Ally McBeal"-style effects to modest success, alternately drawing Toad thin and fat to illustrate his change in self-image, and slapping the Disney character Goofy's head on a bit player. And it's all drawn just like "Calvin & Hobbes."
Erik Larsen completists should take note that he contributes a two-page Marty and Toad back-up story to this issue featuring loads of self-deprecating humor and "babes galore.")
In the end, DESPERATE TIMES is not a bad book. But it's not good enough to make me settle for the distant echo of a strong and original voice. Instead of picking up future issues of DESPERATE TIMES, I think I'll take the time to flip through some of my old "Calvin & Hobbes" collections. Sorry, Marty & Toad.
Grade: C
From the September 1998 edition with a theme of "Creative Recycling":
INTRODUCTION
Last month's column was about publishers reprinting and repackaging material. This month, I'm going to take a peek at creative recycling.
What's creative recycling? That's when a creator takes elements, plots, characters, themes, traditional frameworks, or artistic styles from another creator or creative work; puts his or her own spin on the material; and produces a work which -- while derivative -- becomes distinctly original and new. Or so it is hoped.
Let's see which of this month's books succeed and which ones fail.
YEARNING FOR BETTER DAYS
DESPERATE TIMES #1 (Image Comics)
I bought DESPERATE TIMES #1 based on the cover image printed in PREVIEWS a few months back. No, I wasn't suckered in by the big-busted babes Erik Larsen (THE SAVAGE DRAGON, SPIDER-MAN) drew for the background. Instead, the three guy buddies in the foreground drew my eye for some reason. I really liked the art style used to depict them. Once I actually received and read DESPERATE TIMES, I realized what had drawn me to that cover: "Calvin & Hobbes."
"Say what?" you ask?
It's easy to explain. Previously I'd only known DESPERATE TIMES' writer/artist Chris Eliopoulos as a letterer of comics, filling the captions and word balloons on such books as Image's THE SAVAGE DRAGON, and DC's IMPULSE, JLA: PARADISE LOST, TEMPEST, and UNDERWORLD UNLEASHED. From now on, though, I'll always think of him as "the guy who draws just like Bill Watterson." Every character in DESPERATE TIMES looks like a slight variation on the parents from "Calvin & Hobbes." The hands, feet, eyes, and facial expressions are exactly drawn to the "Calvin & Hobbes" model. Exactly. Painstakingly.
And this is not a good thing, folks.
Sure, it's a novelty for about three minutes. "Hey, look, a comic drawn just like 'Calvin & Hobbes!'" But once Eliopoulos' art starts making you think of Watterson's art, you can't help but compare the quality of their writing. And this is where Eliopoulos is way off model. "Calvin & Hobbes" was hilarious. DESPERATE TIMES is tepid. "Calvin & Hobbes" could be immensely moving. DESPERATE TIMES is superficial. "Calvin & Hobbes" was outrageous and farfetched. DESPERATE TIMES is tame and pedestrian.
DESPERATE TIMES recounts the adventures and misadventures of a pair of single, twentysomething roommates: Marty & Toad. They're your basic run-of-the-mill slackers, fixated on beer, babes, and bowel movements. The entire first issue revolves around Toad's anxiety that he has gotten fat. In the course of the story, Eliopoulos takes a few gentle stabs at human insecurities, self-help books, and health gyms. He also employs "Ally McBeal"-style effects to modest success, alternately drawing Toad thin and fat to illustrate his change in self-image, and slapping the Disney character Goofy's head on a bit player. And it's all drawn just like "Calvin & Hobbes."
Erik Larsen completists should take note that he contributes a two-page Marty and Toad back-up story to this issue featuring loads of self-deprecating humor and "babes galore.")
In the end, DESPERATE TIMES is not a bad book. But it's not good enough to make me settle for the distant echo of a strong and original voice. Instead of picking up future issues of DESPERATE TIMES, I think I'll take the time to flip through some of my old "Calvin & Hobbes" collections. Sorry, Marty & Toad.
Grade: C
January 13, 2016
Over the summer I randomly found this one in a local used bookshop. I found the old, newspaper-style comic to be enticing. It brought back from pretty fond memories of reading the comics with my dad each Sunday. Unfortunately, my happy feelings towards this graphic novel ended there. I'll start by stating that Eliopoulos is a pretty good artist. I really enjoyed the illustrations and appreciated that he was willing to tackle some tough issues.
The biggest turn-off for me was how closed minded and ignorant the topics were handled, especially for something published in 1999. The graphic novel mostly revolves around two mid-twenty guys who are looking for love. They are constantly at bars and singles mixers. The first thing that caught my attention was when the main character refers to two women as "dykes: when they turn down his offer of basically a one night stand. The misogynistic-ness of the main characters only goes downhill from there. It is really rather appalling how frequent to the degree to which the author tears women down in this.
If I believed in burning books, that is what I would do with this one. Alas, I will be selling it back to the used bookstore. Maybe someone else will enjoy this.
1/5 (though if it were possible I would give it 1/2 a star - at least the illustrations were good).
The biggest turn-off for me was how closed minded and ignorant the topics were handled, especially for something published in 1999. The graphic novel mostly revolves around two mid-twenty guys who are looking for love. They are constantly at bars and singles mixers. The first thing that caught my attention was when the main character refers to two women as "dykes: when they turn down his offer of basically a one night stand. The misogynistic-ness of the main characters only goes downhill from there. It is really rather appalling how frequent to the degree to which the author tears women down in this.
If I believed in burning books, that is what I would do with this one. Alas, I will be selling it back to the used bookstore. Maybe someone else will enjoy this.
1/5 (though if it were possible I would give it 1/2 a star - at least the illustrations were good).
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews