Shirtlifter #2

I bought this as a Valentine's Day gift. It seemed relevant, and timely for him and his form of relating at the time, and of a very fine print quality. I peeked a bit, but it was worth the price for what you get. It should last a hundred years. There are a few effective graphics, but nothing to keep it off the living room table.I am not good at getting below the surface unless i have to, but I see right now a few things the cover reminds me of.All in all, glad I bought it.

Ok

My perspective on this comes of having bought all four Shirtlifter books in one go. This one's different to the others, in that it hews more towards a short-story rubric rather than a more extended narrative with autobiographical elements. One particular story, "Safe", bears particualr mention. The author's website contains previews of a few pages from each of the Shirtlifter books, and parts of "Safe" were included in the preview. Without giving away too much, from the preview I couldn't figure out where the juxtaposed house-burning-down story was going, but it was an interesting mystery and weighed in favour of my purchase of the book. The way MacIsaac wrote it--particularly the ending--is quite brilliant and very relevant to very real, philosophically difficult issues.This is uppercase-A Art. I'll explain what I mean: My other half is an artist, so I have maybe more than the average amount of "training", if you will, on how to look at and think about art. I am also reminded of a Q&A with author Stephen King, in which the interviewer asked why he writes about such dark things, and King's answer was "What makes you think I have a choice?". There's plenty of artwork out there of whatever genre or medium that's not especially deep or thoughtful...maybe it has nice lines or pretty colours or fine technique, but not much more than that. It makes the cash register ring, because a lot of people aren't looking for anything more than nice lines or pretty colours or fine technique.But when the artist really shares of himself, puts himself into his work, it comes through. And that is very much the case with Steve MacIsaac's "Shirtlifter" series. The characters are not just hot and drawn with great skill, talent, thought, and love, but are also deeply dimensional and very real. So's their internal and external discourse. My own experience with life is substantially different in the details and scenarios, but the manner in which the characters think and act and fret and decide and screw up and fix it and make it work are in close accord with my own life; I was very quickly drawn (as it were) into the stories of the characters' intertwined, complicated lives, and the plots get real traction with me. I have already read this twice and and am in the middle of time number three; I seem to discover new detail and nuance each time through.This is not a one-dimensional, one-handed whack book to be tossed (off or aside). It's got a permanent place on my bookshelf together with #1, #3, and #4. I can scarcely wait for #5.

Shirtlifter is a collection of ten short semi autobiographical works, many of which stem from Steve MacIsaac's experiences and observations on the themes of identity, sexuality, personal growth and what constitutes a family. The comic really struck a chord and stayed with me long after I had finished.While at times you'd be forgiven for thinking some of the material gets a little dour, the sardonic and occasionally self deprecating humor was appealing and I admire the willingness to actually put that much of yourself out there. It makes the comic feel very intimate at times.One of my favorite pieces was the forth story Mantras. The panels are just damn sexy and beautiful. The feeling between the characters was apparent despite the more obvious connotations and it certainly brings up a lot of questions about how sex is portrayed and consumed. I also enjoyed the conversation and humor in pieces like You Do The Math, which ended very sweetly and made me laugh. (Steve, black socks and sneakers?? heh)While there was sex in the comic, the focus was more on the choices that people make and the repercussions. I think this makes it unusual and it is perhaps a little difficult to classify, as the narrative has a more dramatic and indy feel to it.The art is compelling and while some parts are fully colored it was the strips that were monochromatic that I found striking. The posture and demeanor of the characters and use of shadow creates good tension and atmosphere. They're also drawn in a more realistic style than most of the comics I read and I liked the muscular look of the men. Chest hair? Nice.Shirtlifter #2 was thought provoking, unapologetic, sexy and well worth a read.

Well, this one is a feast of ten interesting autobiographical gay shorts. I definitely wanted MORE MORE MORE. Mr. MacIsaac takes us on a journey through ten different situations. They each stand alone, each have their own rhythm, flavor, mood, and art. This is NOT a sequel to #1, nor is it a prequel to #3. Instead, it's a look inside a life (or ten). I actually liked them all, but the last one really tickled me. Mr. MacIsaac seems to be a master at interesting introspection and juxtaposition. His stories are well formed and narrated/shown, his characters well fleshed out, and his art is top notch! I do love this one for it's complexity and the fact that it made me think.

Shirtlifter 1 is worth overlooking (as I am doing now). Shirtlifter 2 does a lot more with comic-book medium and with a wide variety of depressing and also adorable stories alloof a vaguely autobiographical content from Steve McIsaac. McIsaac's art is not amazing, but often he does his subjects justice (that is: if you're into chubby muscly hairy dudes, you'll probably dig the comic's art (while sometimes the art falls perfectly into the ridiculous, like one frame in the first story, one dude's penis is hilariously 3-feet-long)) and while by no means amazing, is still passable. "Safe" and "You Can Tell Us Anything" are sad as hell. The former is about neurotic tendencies and AIDS, the latter is about parental mantras. Another good story in the collection "Crush" comes off like a big-gay-Harvey-Pekar story and pulls it off pretty well too. You Do The Math is a cute little way to end the collection-- a musing about being "out". While sometimes navalgazing and such, still a good read.