Black Candy

by Matt Madden

Carl is one of many embracing the latest in modern employment opportunities: professional guinea pig. But when the side-effects of the mysterious black pills he's been given begin to worsen, Carl starts to worry. And when one of the clinic's nurses contacts him about shady goings-on at the lab, Carl begins to wonder whether he's gotten in over his head.

Genres: Comics

56 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1998

About the author

Matt Madden is an American cartoonist as well as comics teacher, editor and translator. He is best known for the book 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style (2005), an experimental comic based on the idea of Raymond Queneau's Exercises in Style.
Madden was born in New York City in 1968 and has lived in Michigan, Texas, Pennsylvania, and abroad in Mexico and France. From 2012 to 2016 he had an extended residency at La Maison des Auteurs in Angoulême, France. He has also received the title of knight in the Order of Arts and Letters of the French Republic. Since 2016 Madden lives in Philadelphia with his wife, fellow cartoonist Jessica Abel, and children.
As a translator, Madden has translated graphic novels from Spanish and French for American publishers First Second and New York Comics Review. He also teaches comics at the School of Visual Arts in NYC and at Yale University.

Reviews

[StrictlySequential · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fast read even if you take reading slowly so it has little substance within BUT after you read it personal analysis of what he was getting at s worth the bizarre ordeal you're forced through.

The art is average in terms of comic professionals.

[Nick Nguyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[D.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is, I suspect, the only thing by Matt Madden I own, so I don't have any context for comparison in his career. On its own merits, Black Candy is not a bad little bit of graphic fiction, though it is a little too squarely in the Charles Burns or Daniel Clowes neighbourhood. This puts it well out of the usual black-and-white indie comic ouvre of self-disparaging autobiographic meanders and further into the weird-without-reason area Burns and Clowes have mastered.
We watch the alarmingly unconcerned Carlos, who has basically hired out his body for science he doesn't even try to understand, as he casually notices things about himself that he suspects are caused by the research in which he's involved. Though repeatedly told to see a doctor by friends and family, he does what most young American men do: ignores it. Things go predictably bad from there.
This story is a bit thin, intentionally lacking insights into what any character might be thinking (eschewing the usual 'thought bubbles' for a rare image to indicate a person's thoughts) and offering little flesh to even the main character, as well as the world in which he moves. Madden's art is competent though sparing, but is never unpleasant to see.
I've probably read this a few times since it came out, and I've never been so displeased by it to get rid of it. It's an interesting story with a fairly believable and (kind of) complete conclusion. I don't imagine fans of Artbabe (created by his romantic partner Jessica Abel) or Beat Happening (90s Washington band that share the title of an album with this book) are likely to be disappointed, but those more thoroughly read in independent comics could safely pass on it.

[kubby]

short. even though fiction, it's a good reminder that there's some messed-up experiments going on.