Week of 9/16/2024 Sunday Edition
On today Sunday edition, I analyze humanistic and spiritual themes in Vaughn Bodē's The Man and talk about my first official day at SDCC.
The Man by Vaughn Bodē Review
Before passing away at the young age of 33 in 1975, Vaughn Bodē was one of the most prolific pioneer artists in the world of underground comix and graffiti art during the 1960s and 70s best known for his character Cheech Wizard. Despite the significant footprints Bodē left in said domains, his work has largely eluded my sight until now.
Judging alone from the little artwork of his I’ve seen, this comic seems to be a stripped-down, minimalistic version of his usual style. Backgrounds are usually a blank slate and the foreground elements only include essential details to contexualize the setting. This isn’t a negative quality that detracts from the comic book, nonetheless, as it appropriately suits its deceptively simple premise and puts the character dynamicism in the spotlight.
The man vs. nature theme runs deep throughout the story centering around a caveman and his beloved stick as he charges his way through the rugged landscape living day-by-day as a hunter-gatherer does. He experiences abrupt weather changes such as rainstorms and heavy snow along the way which he approaches with stoic perseverance. However, over the course of the comic, we witness the caveman’s emotional evolution from cold apathy to a subdued yearning for companionship and something deeper. This character motif is present from the beginning as we view in the opening page when the caveman wakes up cuddled to his stick and continues to monologue with it in the subsequent sequences even venturing as far as to rescue it after it falls in a waterfall stream before stating “Tha stick is my friend..” Whilst we the reader are left nescient to the caveman’s life beyond the scope of these sequential boxes, we can tell this is someone who has been alone for a long time.
These implications emanate visibly late into the second act when he encounters a small reptilian creature which, instead of eating, he takes in as a pet endearingly named Little Stuff aka Erg’ because of the sound it makes. In their brief time together, they develop a strong, almost inseparable bond and, for the first time, the caveman is depicted expressing genuine elation that transcends the panel borders into the readers’ hearts (or amygdala if technicality is your fancy). Likewise, heavy sentiments are felt when another man finds Little Stuff and slaughters him for sustenance, unleashing a previously unseen violent core of sheer fury that provokes the caveman to impale the other man.
The caveman’s fit of anger is immediately followed by three of the five grief stages as he internally denies Little Stuff’s fate bargaining over all the activities he will do when he comes back. Depression rears its debilitating head as the wind whirls through the rock peak the caveman morosely sits upon when he articulates his first existential thought “The wind is cold… it is crying…it is empty, like us…[including the stick]” The final page that follows acts simultaneously as a climatic testament to the book’s overall themes and a philosophical cliffhanger that leaves the acceptance element up for debate. Not only does the caveman personify his stick but also his surrounding environment screaming to the wind to “TALK WITH ME!! I am alone.” In the closing panel, the view zooms out dramatically while he continues to stand atop the summit amongst dancing leaves blowing into the foreground.
From a spiritual outlook, this scene could be interpreted as him surrendering the battle with nature to seek companionship with it compensating for his lost earthly intimacy. A more scientifically-minded interpretation, nevertheless, might suggest the cavemen’s existential breakdown is reflective of human’s need for sentient comradery in some shape or form. Personally, I view both perspectives as equally valid.
The Mann overall is one of the most thoughtful and touching underground comic books I’ve ever read and one of the few I wholeheartedly recommend to a general audience including even your stuffy elders due to its universal themes that work on so many levels. Fortunately, like with many underground comix, you can read a scan of this for free on the Internet Archive (oh, what would we do without you).
SDCC Day 1 Overview
After enduring the hullabaloo that was getting into SDCC, July 25 was finally the day that proved my efforts weren’t in vain, for con day was in full swing (for me anyway) as I walked from my nearby hotel into the swathes of geeks and pop cultural fanatics of all backgrounds from cosplayers riding off the latest popular characters to nostalgic normies, quirky families, and comic book fans like yours truly.
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