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Sublife
Sublife #1
The all-new series from MOME 's John Pham. Separate threads weave through the first part of "221 Sycamore St.," an ongoing story about the desperate need for family in two distinct households that share an indelible yet mysterious connection. Sublife is the engaging new series from emerging talent John Pham ( Epoxy , MOME ). Similar in format to other great one-man anthology comics before it ( Eightball , Acme Novelty Library , Jim ), Sublife presents a variety of stories told in a range of styles and voices, all demonstrating a singular vision. Issue one features the first self-contained chapter of "221 Sycamore St." as well as "St. Ambrose," a fractured memoir of the author's grade school alma mater. John Pham won the Xeric Grant in 2000 and has been featured in publications such as Giant Robot , The Face , MOME and The Comics Journal .
64 pages, Paperback
First published September 15, 2008
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176 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
December 27, 2009
it's true this is mostly just introductory-work. for a 64 page graphic novel, there is a ton of shit happening, and a larger cast of characters than you might expect for such a tiny. but the characters themselves are incredibly appealing. they are quirky without being wes anderson overforced quirky. i'm not really sure how everything is going to tie in together, but i am about to go read the second part, because it has been a year and i had to reread the first part now just to remind myself. but i am intrigued... so intrigued...
November 24, 2008
This is like nothing I've ever read before. It's strange, slightly disturbing, but still very beautiful. Feels like something Todd Solondz would write if he was in the comics biz and had anything interesting left to say.
I love the detail in the artwork, how the bedrooms, living rooms and cars these characters inhabit say so much about them. I love how the whole thing is quite surreal and bizarre but still manages to strike a familiar chord somehow.
Really great first volume of this series, and I can't wait to read more.
I love the detail in the artwork, how the bedrooms, living rooms and cars these characters inhabit say so much about them. I love how the whole thing is quite surreal and bizarre but still manages to strike a familiar chord somehow.
Really great first volume of this series, and I can't wait to read more.
October 25, 2008
I couldn't get into this. Some of the parts I enjoyed and other parts I just couldn't get. Maybe since this is only the first part I'll get more involved in it as it goes on.
February 27, 2012
The stories were okay but I really enjoyed the artistic style- it reminded me of Adventure Time with the minimalistic yet whimsical line art.
Sublife loosely follows a family of a college student who is losing her shit in an amusing faction (she mutters to herself in a slow motion breakdown kind of way while tripping over loose items), a father who teaches religion class to a bunch of punkass kids that torment him with loud sounds, and a son dressed as a bed sheet cover-ghost who never says a word but is the most sane of the bunch. There is also an odd single uncle who delights in smelling unpleasant scents.
There is a Sublife vol.2 and on the strength of its artwork and some of the stories, I'm inclined to give John Pham a second shot.
Sublife loosely follows a family of a college student who is losing her shit in an amusing faction (she mutters to herself in a slow motion breakdown kind of way while tripping over loose items), a father who teaches religion class to a bunch of punkass kids that torment him with loud sounds, and a son dressed as a bed sheet cover-ghost who never says a word but is the most sane of the bunch. There is also an odd single uncle who delights in smelling unpleasant scents.
There is a Sublife vol.2 and on the strength of its artwork and some of the stories, I'm inclined to give John Pham a second shot.
September 24, 2011
This book is very unnecessary. It's a strong candidate for Least Essential Comic Book 2008. The art is derivative of Acme Novelty Library, the story feels a crumpled 1st draft stolen from Dan Clowes's trash can, and the mood is reminiscent of every other depressio art student comic published in the last 20 years. Clumsy, It's a Good Life if You Don't Weaken, Acme Novelty Library, My Brain is Hanging Upside Down-- enough already! I'm sick of comic books about undersexed losers! I'd rather read about the winners.
(e.g. )
(e.g. )
September 23, 2010
Following the lives of several misanthropic roommates, this is a great book for readers who enjoy the works of Chris Ware. A creature who resembles a thumb and a disgruntled English professor make up the majority of this dark satire. Fine lines and small forms make up the artwork, and although funny, the plot failed to wow me, as it comes close to so many other graphic novels. Final verdict: check it out for the artwork, but don't count on a mind-blowing story.
September 15, 2012
The first part of a longer story by this Xeric Award-winner focuses on the unusual tenants of a boarding house and their interrelated lives. The stories are fluid and engaging, and Pham is clearly exploring the narrative possibilities of the medium. He's like a more reader-friendly Chris Ware.
October 17, 2020
I read about 20% of this before getting into some longer books. I’m trying to clean out the partially-finished comics this weekend.
This book is easy to pick up and put down. Herein we have a series of vignettes about a bunch of characters, some of whom are connected, some of whom seem to have little to no connection to the general cast of characters. It seems a bit imbalanced because some characters seem primed for more of a presence, but really don’t appear much. Since there are more volumes, I have to assume they’ll be showing up more later.
I may check out volume 2, if time permits.
Oh, I forgot to mention that there is one character who likes the smell of earwax and shit on tp, and I was like, “this is my people!�
Yeah. I like some weird and traditionally unpleasant smells. Sometimes I feel like a dog in this capacity. It was refreshing to see a character with similar tastes, and the almost non-sequitur way it was presented was cool too.
This book is easy to pick up and put down. Herein we have a series of vignettes about a bunch of characters, some of whom are connected, some of whom seem to have little to no connection to the general cast of characters. It seems a bit imbalanced because some characters seem primed for more of a presence, but really don’t appear much. Since there are more volumes, I have to assume they’ll be showing up more later.
I may check out volume 2, if time permits.
Oh, I forgot to mention that there is one character who likes the smell of earwax and shit on tp, and I was like, “this is my people!�
Yeah. I like some weird and traditionally unpleasant smells. Sometimes I feel like a dog in this capacity. It was refreshing to see a character with similar tastes, and the almost non-sequitur way it was presented was cool too.
January 15, 2024
Sublife follows the lives of a college student and her family told in loosely connecting vignettes. The elements of Ware's Acme Novelty Library seems to be an inspiration for the design of Sublife, and it works pretty well. The story is a bit too scattered to really follow along with what Pham intends the audience to grasp, but overall there was some nice play with formalism and design to make this an entertaining enough time.
August 6, 2023
This book has a charm to it. It’s hard for me to specifically say why. Nevertheless, all of the characters and vignettes in this graphic novel are entertaining and make for a great work.
September 9, 2011
This book is weird and wonderful. And though it reminds me of other non-mainstream writers and artists, actually writer/artists, it generally takes some of the best elements of the writer/artists that I cannot help comparing it to, and combines them in a unique way. For the most part no one wants to be compared, but to favorably compare one with someone great is in my opinion not so bad! The most obvious comparison would be to Chris Ware in a drawing style that is tight and precise with fine graphic lines that seem more designed than drawn, but I found John Pham's writing to be a bit more fun and more interesting than Chris Ware's on the whole. The writing veers more towards Daniel Clowes or maybe even more so Dash Shaw, in that we have plausible (and implausible characters) behaving in ways that we can relate with (usually.) The book was strange and very funny and I look forward to more!
December 4, 2011
if you like modern graphic novels this is definitely worth having and Pham is a creator to follow. As other reviews say, he is clearly following Chris Ware, and, there is something of Dash Shaw's quirkiness (to my mind the lodger who is constantly dressed in a sheet was highly redolent of Shaw's character who appears throughout Belly Bottom as a frog). He doesn;t have Ware and Shaw's astonishing graphic gifts he has a very effective style- if a bit scratchy- and he has an exquisite coda where he breaks free of the entire style and pallet for a free wheeling dream sequence..I'm doing a loust job of describing it, but all i can say is that he is very good and worth following.
June 26, 2011
Strange little comic with a few laugh-out-loud moments, a couple of bizarre characters, and some intricate, detailed artwork. As a whole, I'm not too sure what it all amounts to but it definitely has its moments. I was inspired to buy it after seeing one of the artist's comics in an anthology. (That piece, about a couple of wandering astronauts, is included here inside the front and back covers.) And seeing as how I only paid, like, two dollars for it, it was definitely worth the price.
January 8, 2009
I'm not sure what to rate this book, since as volume #1 it is mostly set up. That set up is pretty slow paced and quiet, but there is a lot of interesting stuff going on. In tone there is an overall sense of loneliness and depression that reminds me of Chris Ware or Skyscrapers of the Midwest. Why are cartoonists so sad (I suspect vitamin deficiency)? Anyway, I'm looking forward to #2.
January 29, 2010
Pulls off the thing I like best, probably, in my reading experience: the feeling of spying on life, so close that it is almost being.
Surface-simple drawings with details in all the right places so that the panels draw the eye back and in again. Same effect with the plot of the vignettes. yay.
Surface-simple drawings with details in all the right places so that the panels draw the eye back and in again. Same effect with the plot of the vignettes. yay.
March 19, 2013
Beautiful, if troubling. I've read this and Sublife *2 a number of times and I don't know why but I feel there's the loosest kind of coherence running through these stories. Here's hoping Sublife *3 is on the way someday, only because a trilogy would seem somehow more resolved, even though you wouldn't expect any kind of neat ending.
November 8, 2014
Not a fan of these suffocatingly art-school style comics. Pham is an obviously a very good artist but has a ways to go in storytelling skills - I found this tedious and simply un-entertaining.
October 4, 2009
Quite odd, but I liked it.
March 12, 2010
Pham's storytelling is intricate and his characterization is unflinching. A very good read.
September 20, 2010
Beautiful art and design and interesting storylines!
March 1, 2011
John's art is really something else. I can't believe he did the lettering by hand!
February 12, 2012
This was cute. I'd read another volume, if there is one.
September 6, 2012
Adore the style in this. Tiny and clean and innovative.
October 13, 2015
2.5 stars
i couldn't really get into it the way i wanted to
not sure exactly what is missing, but it feels empty somehow
i couldn't really get into it the way i wanted to
not sure exactly what is missing, but it feels empty somehow
November 4, 2015
Not exactly sure what I just read.
February 6, 2019
Finding the bizarre, true, and sad in the mundane, this story isn't exactly a story. It's more like very detailed observations of loosely affiliated people.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
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