Art-related crimes and deaths are on the rise and appear to be connected. Art Brut struggles with mental illness. Can he function well enough to investigate this new and mysterious threat? Find out in Art Brut #1 from Image Comics!
ART BRUT #1
Writer: W. Maxwell Prince
Artist: Martin Morazzo
Colorist: Mat Lopes
Letterer: Good Old Neon
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: December 14, 2022
Previously in Art Brut: Who knew that the world of fine art could go so haywire? Arthur Brut is the Mad Dreampainter who can literally dive into paintings with his trusty sidekick, Manny the Mannequin. Unfortunately, this has also driven him insane. But when the Bureau of Artistic Integrity finds a problem, they need the skills of Art Brut to help them solve it.
IN THE WINK OF AN EYE
Art Brut #1 is one of the more unusual comic books I have read. It is part thriller, part police procedural, and part weird fantasy with a connecting thread of art, but not in a way you might expect. Reading this issue is like diving into a cold wave on Lake Superior – you get disoriented, it takes your breath away, you wonder whether you should be here – and then you start enjoying the ride.
The story opens at the Louvre where a tour guide leads a group of tourists to see the Mona Lisa. He goes into his practiced spiel. People comment on how small the painting is. Then someone comments that one of her eyes is closed. The tour guide races off shouting for someone to all Director Breslin – they need Art Brut! The scene closes with a panel of the painting and indeed, one of her eyes is closed like she is winking.
The scene shifts to a psychiatric hospital of the slightly creepy variety. Director Breslin is there to see Arthur Brut, and a nurse discusses the psychotropic medication he is on, although none of it seems to help him as much as art supplies. They go into Arthur’s room where he is painting a picture of himself. Breslin is the new director of the Bureau of Artistic Integrity, so she introduces herself and gets into the case. There have been several incidents involving art, death, and a symbol of a winking face. After the Mona Lisa incident, several people have gotten sick. Brut grabs his art mannequin and agrees to work the case. Breslin wonders what she has gotten herself into.
The scene shifts to a woman and her young son in a car. She is driving him someplace and trying to reassure him. He is unresponsive to her, but he draws quite good pictures. She tries to get him to notice the cows they pass. Instead, he draws a picture of a cow with X’s for eyes. They drive past, and we see a field of now-dead cows.
At the Louvre, Brut looks over the Mona Lisa as the tour guide goes all fanboy over him while Breslin talks about additional art-related deaths. Then the tour guide gets shot. A group of armed men in paint-spattered suits wearing eye patches start torching the place. Art Brut grabs Breslin and they flee – into the Mona Lisa.
MODERN AND STYLISH
The art of Art Brut #1 is interesting in that while most of it is drawn, the actual artwork that appears features actual images of the art. This contrast gives added importance to the art where it matters to the story. And then there is the hybrid moment when we see Art Brut painting. His own work is done as an image of art, bright with color and rendered to show brush strokes. Yet his depiction of himself is the way he appears. It is different, but it works together.
Art Brut himself is interesting. The way his madness is depicted feels old-fashioned to me and somewhat exaggerated. He is the weird investigator with the messy hair, inexplicably carrying his artist’s mannequin around with him. His conversation is tangential and his reactions to people are intense. It does set up for the contrast between the normal world and the world within the painting. When we move to the world where he is most comfortable, he looks and sounds normal. But to really make things fun, his mannequin comes to life, and Manny is at least seven feet tall.
BOTTOM LINE: A STRANGE AND GRIPPING TALE
Art Brut #1 is entertaining and it kicks off a weird thriller of a mystery. I enjoy the premise and I like that this book leaves me not sure where it is headed next, which means I am looking forward to finding out.
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Art Brut #1
Art Brut, the Mad Dreampainter, finds madness and sanity in art.
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Writing8
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Art7
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Coloring8
By day, she’s a mild-mannered bureaucrat and Ms. Know-It-All. By night, she’s a dance teacher and RPG player (although admittedly not on the same nights). On the weekends, she may be found judging Magic, playing Guild Wars 2 (badly), or following other creative pursuits. Holy Lack of Copious Free Time, Batman! While she’s always wished she had teleportation as her superpower, she suspects that super-speed would be much more practical because then she’d have time to finish up those steampunk costumes she’s also working on.