New Hat Stories: Banks/Eubanks

Don't let the minimal art fool you. Hart's strength is his storytelling ability. Banks, the not quite lovable loser, is the central character of this story. He has a love (or a need) for movies and this aspect shows itself at key points throughout the book. If you read Hart's previous collected wook, The Sands, you should expect this to be better. Hart has polished his style even more to deliver a very satisfying story.

There is this thing about comics printed on newsprint that draws me to them. Sentiments aside, I think what really makes me love these comics (or graphic novels) is their bare-to-the-bone honesty. Forget about the hypes nor the latest computer drawing/illustration softwares that help to sell books/comics these days, if there is no soul in the book, it's just an empty shell.Talking about souls, this book certainly has plenty. From the storyline to the 100% hand drawn pictures to the loosely laid-out pages, we're talking about the 'real things' here: good storytelling, good cartooning, and a good, honest comic good.Aptly, this book tells the story of a happy-go-lucky daydreamer named Barney Banks. And yes, this guy not only has a life, he's got lots of soul too.