Can't Get No

I happen to think that Rick Veitch is one of the most talented people in comics - ever. It is not hard to find excellent artists or writers. It is VERY difficult to find people who are exceptional in both areas. Rick Veitch is one such person. Can't Get No tells a story about the transformation of a man that starts (literally) on his exterior and eventually suffuses him - and makes him better. Not an uncommon theme, but told in an uncommon way. Entirely pictorial and beautifully evocative, the story comes ringing clear and true. This is one that will stick in your head, and I am personally grateful to see it back in print. I had dreams about the story weeks later! Pick up this classic.

I've always thought that Rick Veitch is one of the most under-appreciated geniuses in comic books. Can't Get No might be his greatest achievement to date. Largely an allegory for life in the US before, during and after 9/11, this is a multi-layered work which transcends its basis in recent history. Veitch's device of disassociating word and image is brilliant. He's used similar devices before, both in his metatextual superhero stories like Brat Pack and The One and in his superb Rare Bit Fiends dream comics, but this is his most experimental work yet and it works like a charm. This comic is destined to be pored over by English Lit. masters students as avidly as any work of poetry or literature. An unqualified masterpiece.

Don't purchase this book with the expectation that it will "read" like any other graphic novel. What Rick has created with this tale is a new model within the graphic novel art form and it takes a little getting used to. I intended to read it casually over a few days in between other things going on in my life but that didn't happen. Fifteen or twenty minutes into it I was hooked and my plans for the evening changed. It was that engrossing. I was totally engaged not only in the story but in where the book took my imagination. To me, this felt like two different books in one package. The images tell one (or multiple) stories and the blocks of text that are superimposed over many of the frames are sometimes narrative, sometimes social commentary, sometimes pure poetry but consistently remarkable - and seemingly disconnected from what the images revealed. I usually read the text of a comic or graphic novel first as I'm viewing the images but my usual didn't work with "Can't Get No". It was too much of a stretch to approach the book in this way. I didn't get too many pages into the story before I was forced to adapt my reading style to be able to fully appreciate this unique book. I began to consciously avoid the words and scan the odd-shaped double pages for the images only. I'd do that a few times and then let the images tell me a story. I'd think about the images for a moment then finally read the text blocks that floated over the frames. What I had first understood was blended with what the text now suggested. Many times, my original imagining was completely different from the viewpoint I moved to by the time I turned the page. It was an surprisingly great reading experience. Everyone I know was impacted differently by 9/11. I'm guessing most readers will respond as differently to the images and the multiple storylines suggested by this book. When I read it again I'm sure my interpretation and understanding will change. Save this book for a time and place that affords you a few hours of quiet pleasure to really savor this one. It's well worth it.