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Love Buzz
What if the one that got away kept coming back? Norm Raymer, an aspiring comic artist, has a turbulent relationship with Maggie. With their passionate ups and chaotic downs, is this love, or a youthful lust? For better or worse, Norm and Maggie must discover whether or not they can ever really make it as a normal couple. Can you really be a normal couple when your whole life is just fodder for your comic book?
184 pages, Paperback
First published December 22, 2009
1 person is currently reading
6 people want to read
About the author
Len N. Wallace
7 books9 followersLen N. Wallace is a writer with nearly 10 years as a writer in the comic book industry with credits to his name from Image Comics, Grayhaven Comics, Ronin Studios, and a contributor to Dreamworks SKG and Ape Entertainment’s Kung-Fu Panda comic line. His first full length graphic novel, Love Buzz, was published with artists Michelle Silva, Dave Tuney, and Thomas Mauer by Oni Press in early 2010.
In 2011, he began writing a series of comic short stories with artist Brenda Liz Lopez called The Zipper Club, centering around the summer camp adventures of a group of children with varying forms of congenital heart defect. The idea for the project was something born of a specific necessity to Wallace as somewhat of a handbook for children navigating a life of being different and behind the curb from everyone else. In 2013, Len and Brenda completed a The Long Odds are about the continued journey of navigating into an adulthood that someone never thought they’d survive. Chronicling the ups and downs of experiences from Wallace’s own life with a mix of humor, brutal honesty, triumph, and a touch of morbidity to
Wallace’s work is backed by Dave Baxter and Dallas Roberts of California’s Killing The Grizzly entertainment agency.
In 2011, he began writing a series of comic short stories with artist Brenda Liz Lopez called The Zipper Club, centering around the summer camp adventures of a group of children with varying forms of congenital heart defect. The idea for the project was something born of a specific necessity to Wallace as somewhat of a handbook for children navigating a life of being different and behind the curb from everyone else. In 2013, Len and Brenda completed a The Long Odds are about the continued journey of navigating into an adulthood that someone never thought they’d survive. Chronicling the ups and downs of experiences from Wallace’s own life with a mix of humor, brutal honesty, triumph, and a touch of morbidity to
Wallace’s work is backed by Dave Baxter and Dallas Roberts of California’s Killing The Grizzly entertainment agency.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 22, 2021
Love Buzz, a “true love story,” is a well executed but rather run-of-the-mill geek culture based relationship comic that focuses on Norm, a nerdy budding comic book artist from Louisville, and his complicated romance with the flighty musician Maggie. While fictionalized, the autobiographical elements are obvious. Named after the Nirvana song, Love Buzz will provide any comic or music geek plenty of easter eggs to hunt out, which both compliments Norm’s interests and detracts from telling his story. As a collaboration between writer Len Wallace and artists Michelle Silva and Dave Tuney, Silva’s clean, expressive artwork is the best part of the comic, though is often relegated to merely providing the background and talking heads for Wallace’s dialog. In addition, Norm’s daydreams and sketches are illustrated by Tuney, whose style is appropriately cartoony and riffs on common comic genres, from superheroes to Herge (including laying on Tintin’s infamous racism a bit too thickly). These make for some fun scenes that punctuate what is going on in Ray’s reality, if in a slightly heavy handed way.
Wallace’s writing does capture the immaturity of the characters, but aside from the two leads, people are little defined aside from stereotypes (i.e., willfully offensive dude, geeky tomgirl, etc.). I could not really like these characters beyond their roles as filler, and though we follow both Norm and Maggie from high school to early college, neither exhibit much personal growth. They continue to make bad decisions and hurt each other’s feelings and end in an ambiguous spot. The melancholy mood reminds me a little of Jeffrey Brown’s relationship comics, though perhaps its “fictional” aspect detracts from the emotional resonance that infuses Brown’s autobiographical works and makes them far more thoughtful, bittersweet reads. Also, for those not versed in “geek culture,” the events may be somewhat obtuse, but it is a good depiction. It can be challenging to capture the humor and pathos of everyday life, and here it turns out a little shallow.
Wallace’s writing does capture the immaturity of the characters, but aside from the two leads, people are little defined aside from stereotypes (i.e., willfully offensive dude, geeky tomgirl, etc.). I could not really like these characters beyond their roles as filler, and though we follow both Norm and Maggie from high school to early college, neither exhibit much personal growth. They continue to make bad decisions and hurt each other’s feelings and end in an ambiguous spot. The melancholy mood reminds me a little of Jeffrey Brown’s relationship comics, though perhaps its “fictional” aspect detracts from the emotional resonance that infuses Brown’s autobiographical works and makes them far more thoughtful, bittersweet reads. Also, for those not versed in “geek culture,” the events may be somewhat obtuse, but it is a good depiction. It can be challenging to capture the humor and pathos of everyday life, and here it turns out a little shallow.
July 20, 2011
More than anything, this was just a fun, lighthearted read. There's nothing earth-shattering or new about this
book, it's just a charming and quirky love story that covers all those wonderful awkward years between the final weeks and months of high school and most of college. Without giving too much away, it's another refreshing take on the on-again-off-again love life of an aspiring comic artist, who often gets lost in his own comic book versions of his own life. The art is solid, the mistakes are similar to those that most of us probably made around that age, and the whole story just feels nice and genuine.
book, it's just a charming and quirky love story that covers all those wonderful awkward years between the final weeks and months of high school and most of college. Without giving too much away, it's another refreshing take on the on-again-off-again love life of an aspiring comic artist, who often gets lost in his own comic book versions of his own life. The art is solid, the mistakes are similar to those that most of us probably made around that age, and the whole story just feels nice and genuine.
August 16, 2011
A decent love story that follows the course of an on-again/off-again relationship through high school and college. The art can be a bit inconsistent, but when it's good it's great. Also the characters beyond the main two leads aren't really fleshed out very much. But still it's a decent read.
March 21, 2019
This is one of the best graphic novels I have ever read. The story is real and deep and will stick with you.
The other reviews are a bit scattered but trust me it's definitely worth reading.
The other reviews are a bit scattered but trust me it's definitely worth reading.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews