BOP!

Rating:
Summary: Meeting Old Friends
Review: Alex Robinson's massive graphic novel _Box Office Poison_ is one of my favorite graphic novels. The characters within its black and white pags breathe realism. In this day and age of spandex clad super heros and scantily clad heroines, _BOP_ offers the reader a breath of fresh air as he or she follows the lives of the disgruntled book store employee Sherman and the want to be comic book artist Ed and the vast assortment of their friends and enemies. This slim vol titled _BOP!: More Box Office Poison_ is a collection of stories that were not included in the 600+ page Top Shelf Collection and a few recent stories concerning the characters such as Mr. Robinson's 24 hour comic depicting Caprice and her boyfriend Kevin. For the most part this book fleshes out the first book the reader gets to meet Stephen's ex-girlfriend Darlene, the only significant girlfriend he had before beginning his long term relationship with Jane, gets to see Caprice and Jane's high school years, and get to see Sherman not only fight to remain outside the corporate world, but to see how his geeky min wishes that his relationship with Dorothy could be a little different. My favorite story within the collection is "My Old Flame, or Ex-Man" which depicts a future meeting between an older Sherman and his ex Sally. It is interesting to see how their recollections of the meeting differ. An excellent little book, read it please.