It's the heart of the Camelot-era 1960s and the world is flush with celebrity - from the president and first lady to a constellation of stars including Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra. And a man named Johnny is in the dangerous middle of it. Johnny, you see, is a dead ringer for Frank Sinatra and he's been hired to pretend to be Ol' Blue Eyes out and about.

Johnny doesn't know it, of course, but this is a classic noir set up: the average guy getting caught up in events bigger than himself, getting in deeper and deeper until, finally, he realizes he's in too deep. And that's when the real trouble starts.

It seems that that's exactly where our man Johnny in Geoff Grogan's engaging "Nice Work" is headed.

Torn between his dreams of being known and respected as a singer in his own right, his love of a woman, and his love of the orbit of the rich and powerful, Johnny's getting in too deep. The question is, what will have to happen before he realizes it?

Grogan's linework is lush, expressive, and eases readers quickly into the era he's portraying. The movement through time is occasionally jarring, but once you get used to it, the story sweeps you right along, breathless to see what comes next.

The only problem? We're stuck mid-caper! Grogan hasn't updated the site in a few months. Here's hoping he gets back to it soon - I want to see what Johnny's in for!

 

 

... read it now!

Sometimes I think it's hard to write about the stars of the recent past. They tend to either be ridiculously glorified or mercilessly demonized. The key, I think, is to do both- to understand and accept the dark parts of Hollwood, without letting it skew that certain something it had that made it so amazing. Nice Work, thankfully, does just that. Geoff Grogan clearly gets it. Focusing on a Frank Sinatra impersonator who doesn't seem to have the same reverence as anyone else for the man, the comic manages to pull off a unique viewpoint on a much-covered subject. It's also a genius way of showing what exactly is so great about all those cultural icons we adore: here's a guy who looks and sings and performs like Sinatra, and yet he seems to be missing whatever it is that turns a talented jerk into a living legend. The story has just the right amount of style and snap, but the opening few pages lend it a certain mysteriousness that keeps it on edge, not to mention occasional glimpses of violence, criminal and otherwise, that echo a little bit of what was going on in the world at the time. And the art is perfect for the story- it's smooth and richly shaded, without ever getting too pretty or clean. Our hero the impersonator could try to become a star in his own right, or just indulge in the highs and lows of someone else's lifestyle. Whatever happens, I'll be reading, because whatever that "it factor" is, Nice Work seems to have it. ... read it now!

"Nice Work" by Geoff Grogan looks interesting, in a way that manages to remind me simultaneously of the work of R. Crumb and Joe Zabel (yeah, I know -- strange combination).

"The future's been abandoned," says one of the characters early on, before taking his friend to a crapped-out and abandoned 1960's honky-tonk where Frank Sinatra (maybe?) was rumored to have once performed. Grogan gets you to a creepy headspace immediately, with his meticulous, ink-lines-out-the-wazoo art style and his deliberately stiff presentation and blocking. I look forward to seeing where this one goes. ... read it now!