Late Bloomer

by Carol Tyler

The biggest, richest and most delightful collection of Tyler's work to date. Tales of loss, difficult relatives and questionable relationships are infused with Tyler's rueful humor, pitiless wit and deep empathy. Carol Tyler has been a professional (and highly acclaimed) cartoonist for over 20 years, appearing in such venues as Robert Crumb's Weirdo, Wimmen's Comix , and Drawn & Quarterly magazine.

But over the years her status as a working mother has drastically curtailed her ability to set aside time for her cartooning. Thus each rare new story from her pen has been greeted with hurrahsas well they should be, because she's one of the most skillful, caustic, and emphatic cartoon storytellers of her generation. This new book presents the biggest, richest and most delightful collection of Tyler's work to date featuring many new and previously unpublished works.

In "Migrant Mother" Tyler tells the grueling story of a cross-country trip with the flu and her terrible twos toddler using her trademark combination of rueful humor and emphathy. The full-color "Just A Bad Seed" is a meditation on a problem child who might not be such a problem after all, while "The Return of Mrs. Kite" chronicles a family crisishow her widowed grandmother fell in with a beau of questionable character. "Gone" (also in full color) is a stirring meditation on all kinds of loss, and "Why I'm A-gin' Southern Men" is a classic rant that dissects that particular breed of maleor at least a certain subspecies of "ex"eswith pitiless wit.

Other stories include "Sweet Miss Lee" (a reminiscence of an immigrant roommate and her fate), "There's Something Wrong with a Perfect Lawn" (a tale of suburban obsessiveness), "Little Crosshatch Mind" (where artistic impulses come from), and "Uncovered Property" (discovering the power of sexuality at an early age).

Tyler works equally well in delicately crisp black-and-white penstrokes and lushly watercolored paintings (this book will feature 60 pages of her stunning full-color work). All told, the three-dozen stories here will cement Tyler's reputation as a cartoonist to be reckoned with. 136 pages, 60 pages in color.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Memoir, Comix, Nonfiction, Historical, Graphic Novels Comics

134 pages, Trade Cloth

First published November 30, 2005

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like and admire Tyler's three volume story of her soldier father, so was glad to find, this, a collection of short and earlier "slice of life" works, many of which were never previously published. Early on she was published by Crumb, who does the introduction for this volume, and in the feminist Wimmin's Comix and Twisted Sister. The feel of the work is a combination of working class midwest family stories and alt comix. She's a very fine artist, though some of this is uneven, of course. It's just a great thing to have, over twenty years of work compiled by the author.

And why might you not know her name? Her funny/sad preface makes it clear that she always privileged being a wife and mother to her cartooning. And the tradeoff you deduce from this is that many of the midwestern men in her life were not worth it. As she says, this is what we did then, we raised kids, and it was really really hard a lot of the time. I recommend you check it out. A lot of it is very funny (she also did stand-up) and sweet and helps me recall my own midwest upbringing as she is just about a year or so older than me, and she was born in Chicago.

[rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks for making me feel like a tool in the foreward, Robert. Anyways, Miz Tyler is a comix artist with a rustic and rushed feeling in the panels, and when it works it comes off as pure non-drama, golden like 60s neorealism, with a DIY aesthetic of handwritten type and cool hyperbole. The pieces in the latter half outshine the other dandelions of this book, the best being "Harddrive to Heartbreak," "Gone," and short 4-panels like "American Labels" (seems Tyler's personality comes through with brevity, so the longer tales sometimes get stale). The tales usually concern growing up, motherhood, redneck boyfriends, and re-growing up. I picked a shitty reason to pick this off the shelf, but the berating was worth it, Crumb. Subtle, sometimes satirical, stubborn, real, funny, disgusting--watching Tyler bloom is a good read.

[Tina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Imagine Lynda Barry, but not nearly as good. Tyler clearly has artistic talent, but she doesn't have much of a sense of storytelling. A few of these were funny, but most of them felt too brief and/or shallow. She was going for that Barryesque honest/poignant/humorous thing, but just not pulling it off. I couldn't really connect.

[Anne Snyder · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is excellent. The art and writing are top notch and this author tells her stories authentically and from the heart. Her stories are inspirational.

[Raina · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really nice collection of C. Tyler's mostly autobio comics collected from various publications over the years. Grouped vaguely chronologically. Read this about a month ago, then kept it around the house for my mom to read, as Tyler is just a few years older than my mom. She liked it a lot too. She's one of those comic artists who I don't gravitate to particularly just from looking at the illustrations, but I really enjoy the stories once I dedicate some time to reading it through. Plus, she's a legend in the comics-verse. A nice way for me to get a taste of R. Crumb and other contemporaries that I have a hard time relating to.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories in this book are all honest, funny, sad and good, but the blooming near the end of the book caught me off guard, even though it is in the title. You get to watch Tyler get older, draw better and better, get wiser and wiser, and begin to create stories and pictures of great down-home beauty, like "My American Labels" about summer in a small town. Then, the last section, an excerpt from the beginning of a longer story, The Outrage, explodes into life. It is still honest, funny, and sad, but is clearly a creation that is much more than the sum of its parts. It has an organic structure and sense to it that is startlingly gorgeous. I can't wait to read the rest.

[Lisamarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

VERY excited to see this one -- where has she been all these years? She is amazing.

[Terrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of both published and previously unpublished comics. I really enjoyed Carol Tyler's art style.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

After seeing the exhibit of Tyler's work currently on display at the Billy Ireland Museum on the Ohio State campus (which I highly encourage anyone to visit -- it's so good!), I wanted to check out one of her books, and I figured this collection would be a good sampler. Unfortunately, like most collections, it's extremely hit-or-miss. Some of the stories are moving and/or hilarious; others are awkward or boring at best, and racist at worst. And in general, I think the underground comix aesthetic just isn't for me; I bounce off of the phonetic spellings and other lettering conventions of the genre, and the art style at its rawest and grittiest is personally unappealing. Tyler is clearly a brilliant artist -- some of the more colorful stories in this volume were breathtaking, and there were some really cool mixed-media art pieces at the Billy Ireland exhibit -- but ultimately I don't feel super-compelled to check out more of her work.

[Jolene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious! Imagine telling your life story in a comic strip without laughing or feeling embarrassed. Beautiful pictures!

[Penelope · Rating 3 out of 5]

I almost rated this book 2 stars but Carol Tyler's awesome drawing skills made me bump it up...

First of all, I think that the design of the book itself is flawless--totally beautiful! Tyler did a wonderful job illustrating and designing the introduction, contents pages, cover, and opening pages for each segment. I can't criticize her artwork, which is beautiful and varies throughout the book. I enjoyed seeing the different styles of illustration she used for different stories.

There were a few things that made this book a dud for me when it came to the stories themselves:

1. Although the comics are in chronological order (I think?--if they're not, then the entire organization of this book is confusing) I found it difficult to construct any sort of continuous thread throughout all the stories. A few "characters" are recurring, but I never felt like I got to know any of them very well, except for the author herself (obviously), her daughter, and her ex(?) husband Jud a little bit. Various family members are sprinkled throughout the stories but I didn't feel a connection to any of them, and I didn't feel they helped me understand the "main characters" (Carol, her daughter....) at all.

2. Some of the stories end in a sort of awkward, unsatisfying way or with punchlines that just didn't strike me as funny ("Blankie" for example). A lot of Tyler's stories end on an ironic, darkly humorous note (such as "There's Something Wrong With a Perfect Lawn" and "The Return of Mrs. Kite"). I found myself enjoying the endings of those stories, but not the stories themselves. With others, I found myself enjoying the story but then being disappointed by the ending. I didn't totally love very many stories in their entirety.

Aaaand I think those are pretty much that main things that bugged me about "Late Bloomer." Some of my favorites and not-so-favorites follow (4 each to keep it balanced).

Favorites:
"Migrant Mother" (59-68)
"Just a Bad Seed" (69-74)
"Pork Chops" (89)
"Once, We Ran" (118)

Not-so-favorites:
"The Return of Mrs. Kite" (23-31)
"Blankie" (38)
"Why I'm A-Gin Southern Min" (76-80)
"Carol Tyler's Dance History Study Guide" (87)

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoy autobiographical comics along the lines of R. Crumb, Justin Green, or Harvey Pekar, this will be a welcome addition! Tyler writes unflinchingly honest short comics about life: being a mother, lawn care, travel, growing up in the Midwest, working as a substitute teacher, putting a career on hold for kids... you name it. Her artwork is impressive: one page is grotesque, the next ethereal. If there was one thing I could change, I'd want more longer pieces in this collection. But that doesn't seem to be the nature of her work. I will be seeking out more of it, that's for sure.

[Summer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carol Tyler is a good artist and writer, but this collection just felt far too derivative of Aline Kominsky to really be worth another read. There's homage and there's drawing influence, and then there's just third-rate baked-in-the-mold-of.

[HeavyReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really dig personal comics, especially ones by women. I liked this personal zine by a woman a lot.

[Kitty Tomlinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cady Jordan was injured after a childhood stunt with friends and subsequently loses her memory of the event and the death of a local bully. As an adult comes home to face the memories, etc.

[Colettemariehayes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very fun graphic novel. Northern California shout outs!!

[Judith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Raw and bittersweet. It takes guts to share this much intimate information with the world. The author is a fellow procrastinator (but for different reasons).

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of graphic tales, focusing on the author’s life, misadventures, and adventures in motherhood. Surprisingly (I like Classic Comics, Uncle Scrooge, and Little Lulu myself) enjoyable

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually like slice of life kinds of meandering comics, but this seemed never to go anywhere. and it was visually confusing which didn't really help....

[Larry C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't finish this. I'm not a fan of the Crumb-style of art and storytelling.