Yearbooks

by Nicholas Breutzman (Writer, Illustrator)

Nicholas Breutzman's Yearbooks takes the reader on a trip through the nightmares of high school, both real and imagined. "Chilling... [ Yearbooks ] raises an interesting issue vis-a-vis the relationship between an artist and their responsibilities as a moral agent in the world. Can art be evil if it's made by predators, or is this entirely in the eye of the beholder?" — The Comics Journal "Strange, gross, and lovely, Yearbooks is just connected enough to real high school memories to really freak you out..." — Jessica Abel, Best American Comics series editor "Nic Breutzman's comics are often beguiling, sometimes disorienting, and always formally inventive. Yearbooks is a quick sucker punch that will leave you feeling uneasy but eager for more." – Matt Madden, Best American Comics series editor In Nicholas Breutzman’s debut effort Yearbooks , we encounter nightmarish scenes of a literal and psychological nature as we plumb the depths of the high school experience. Yearbooks evokes the rubbery realism of Daniel Clowes’ Eightball , the narrative dread not unlike a Todd Solondz film, and the vivid colors commonly found in the work of Lauren Weinstein. Nic Breutzman is a Minnesotan native by way of New York who has had a number of comics published both through 2dcloud as well as in collaboration with other artists, such as Sharon Lintz ( Pornhounds 2 ) and a collection of SVA grads (Jon Vermilyea, Eamon Espey, Raymond Sohn, et al) for the anthology Critical Citadel . He placed at #24 on The Comics Journal's Top 50 comics of 2009 for his graphic Novella Yearbooks , has been listed as a notable in multiple editions of Best American Comics for work in Motherlover and Yearbooks , and his work with Sharon Lintz on Pornhounds 2 secured him a place on numerous best of 2011 lists. He currently works as a Designer at the Center for Innovation at the Mayo Clinic.

Genres: Comics

40 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2009

Reviews

[karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

unlike greg, i did not like the framing story of this one (i.e. - the one with the bat shit) but i liked the middle part just fine. i was worried i would hate it and have to face those awkward "oh hi i work with you and you made this and i dont like it and when will this elevator get here so i can escape??" moments. now i can continue to have little or no contact with this person, but feel like if our paths should cross, it wont be nightmarish.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was glad to see from the website that this is only the first of three parts to the story. I liked this quite a bit, in a Daniel Clowes kind of way, but a Dan Clowes that is surreal in a different sort of way. The immature side of me couldn't stop giggling uncontrollably as the the kids danced around in the squirting bat shit, that by itself is just genius. Get a hold of this and help someone escape the prison that is being a Barnes and Noble bookseller.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dark and twisted glimpse into high school hell, beautifully drawn, with a lurid color schema that suits the subject matter perfectly. Apparently there are to be further installments of this story lurking about out there, which is good news.

[StrictlySequential · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awkward highschoolish foolishness that was surprisingly compelling. The student-teacher bond between boring artboy and his mentor of the time was galvanized by the mystery surrounded by the latter. As boy begins to uncover the guarded personal-self of the instructor the typically muted landscape of teen ennui gets interesting.

[Arlee · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with most independently published titles, I really wanted to like this book. It didn't happen that way.

For starters, the copy editing is horrible. On the first page of the body of the text, there's this gem: "the teacher regretted assigning the assignment immediatley [sic]." And then on the inside of the back cover: "keeping it's cold progeny inside," when it should be "its" without the apostrophe. These aren't obscure, nitpicky corrections; these are expected to be used correctly in ninth-grade essays. Microsoft Word corrects them for you. I'm not sure how hey made it as far as the printed final version.

The art was pretty good; not perfect, but it carried the story well and didn't detract from it. The story itself is meandering, mildly shocking, and at the end unresolved. The trope of the friendly on the surface, yet pervy art teacher is an all-too-common one; I'd like to know if he got what was coming to him in the end. ((Edit: this book is slated to have sequels. Consequently, I've bumped the review up a star, as I'm eager to see the story resolved.))

Overall, this comic forays into the incorrigible territory of "art about artists." I'm left with many questions at the end, not least of which being: what does anything in here have to do with yearbooks?

[Nicholas Breutzman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Barnes and Nobles has finally decided to carry my book! Whew!