Review: ‘MuZz, Vol. 1’ by FSc
MuZz, Vol. 1
By FSc (Foo Swee Chin)
SLG Publishing, May 2008, $14.95
There’s a train that runs to MuZz – or, at least, it’s supposed to – carrying ideas and thoughts whose creators have lost interest in them. They’re all pretty odd and motley, as you might expect: a black whale, a phantom cat, and things I couldn’t even begin to describe.
But, on this particular train, there’s also a figure that looks like a teenage girl missing an eye. She’s Modorelin Farllee, she’s an actual human, and she’s not even dead. (Well, I don’t think she’s dead, but I don’t want to be too definite about any plot points concerning [[[MuZz]]].)
Farllee remembers nothing of her past, and wakes up on the train in such a frantic, grouchy mood that she shakes her elf guide to death and has to rely on the standard pamphlet and the advice of her fellow passengers to figure out what’s going on.
And so she quickly learns what I’ve just told you – she doesn’t believe that she’s actually a figment of someone else’s imagination, but she can’t prove that, and drops the subject. None of them are precisely sure what will happen to them in MuZz, but, for nearly all of them, it has to be better than their previous lives.
Then they suddenly find themselves falling, in the first of what will be many jarring transitions – some of which I was able to make sense of and some of which just went by me.
But let me back all the way up to the beginning, because I suspect you’re even more confused than I am. You’re wondering things like “What’s MuZz, anyway?” and “Exactly what kind of story is this?” Unfortunately, I can’t exactly answer those questions, since they’re not all that clear to me after finishing MuZz, Vol. 1.
MuZz feels in some ways like an afterlife fantasy, particularly in the early chapters with the figments, but Farllee leaves them behind about halfway through the book – actually, there’s another bewildering transition, and the narrative is suddenly about a bunch of other people somewhere else, and Farllee is there.
Once the supporting cast changes, MuZz turns more into a story about intrigue and secrets among the (magical?) elite of the city of MuZz, complicated by multiple levels of dream and reality and two guys named Edward.
MuZz is another convoluted, pseudo-Gothic story from Slave Labor, something with a vast, detailed internal cosmology and history that’s mostly hidden at this point. The creator styles herself FSc – her full name is Foo Swee Chin, which might drive me to use initials, too – and she’s got an expressive line (sometimes too expressive) and a story just burbling out of her.
I’m probably not the audience for this; I’m older than I used to be and I never did smoke above eye level or dress all in black. But MuZz is definitely a unique, idiosyncratic story, and readers willing to stretch will find a lot of fascinating stuff here. (And, to help make your mind up, there’s a preview on SLG’s website.)
Andrew Wheeler has been a publishing professional for nearly twenty years, with a long stint as a Senior Editor at the Science Fiction Book Club and a current position at John Wiley & Sons. He’s been reading comics for longer than he cares to mention, and maintains a personal, mostly book-oriented blog at antickmusings.blogspot.com.
Publishers who would like their books to be reviewed at ComicMix should contact ComicMix through the usual channels or email Andrew Wheeler directly at acwheele (at) optonline (dot) net.
The Muzz preview is here:http://www.slgcomic.com/Muzz-Preview_ep_39.html It's 228 pages and looks to be in black and white. Is the story is self contained or is there is a cliff hanger at the end of 200+ pages? Will we need (or want) to wait for Vol. 2?
It is in black and white — if that makes a difference.I don't know how many volumes are planned, but "Vol. 1" in the title is generally a big clue that the story isn't over — and that's the case here.
Yeah, black and white makes a difference. I'm 46 years old and I still prefer my comics in color. For instance, I prefer the colorized version of "Bone" to the original black and white. Now, the full color "Sin City" stories I've seen have made me appreciate the limited color stuff even more. So it's not a hard and fast rule.Three specific things I like to know about a book, especially if I'm going to buy it on line, sight unseen. How long is it? Is it in color? And is it self contained? Meaning, am I going to have to buy multiple issues or multiple crossover issues for the story to make sense? Those questions say nothing really about the quality of the book, but they do affect how I perceive the value of the book.
"The creator styles herself FSc – her full name is Foo Swee Chin, which might drive me to use initials, too"why? because asian names are too difficult for you? because people just aren't used to asian names, so why make them try? what a strange comment to make in your review. definitely unqualified, potentially racist. try again, please.
Hmm. Is Foo Swee Chin's use of the pseudonym "FSc" potentially racist? An artist has the right to call themselves what they want. But Foo Swee Chin doesn't even use initials, "F.S.C.", she goes for a more original creation, "FSc." Why? Is it because she assumed Asian names might be too difficult for the English reading public? Is that a racist assumption about English readers? Is it because English readers aren't used to Asian names, so why make them try? Are Foo Swee Chin's own motives potentially RACIST? Or is it because having an Asian name, like "Foo Swee Chin," on the cover of a graphic novel might give the impression that the comic was originally written in another language and translated into English? To make a possibly unqualified and potentially racist statement: those translated comics can sometimes have very clumsy and confusing grammar. Sometimes you even have to read the pages from right to left even!Look, Foo Swee Chin has the right to call herself whatever she wants without us looking for dire motives. In the same vein, Andrew Wheeler [sounds like Speed Racers cousin] has the right to make an innocuous aside in a very well rounded review and NOT have some ANONYMOUS [what kind of name is that!] critic make statements about things being definitely unqualified or potentially racist. Those are big accusations to make based on very little evidence. Your ANONYMOUS comment [and at least Andrew Wheeler and FSc had the balls to sign their work] is definitely unqualified and potentially incendiary. Try again, please.