I Will Bite You! And Other Stories
written by Joseph Lambert
Paperback
ISBN: 978-0979960956
I first encountered Joseph Lambert's work in The Best American Comics 2008, which reprinted his wonderful wordless minicomic "Turtle Keep it Steady." That story also appears in I Will Bite You, along with seven other tales by Lambert, who shows himself to be one of comics' great new stylists.
Most of Lambert's work has appeared in minicomics or other short-run publications, so this book from Secret Acres is a welcome publication. Most of the stories in this volume have been previously published, but few would have been seen by a broad audience. Put together, they form an impressive graphic novel that showcases a talent who I believe will make his mark on the comics scene in the years to come.
Lambert is, in many ways, a surrealist. He excels at characters and situations that flow and shift and defy expectations. His artwork is both sketchy and precise at the same time. He also knows enough about the conventions of the comics genre to play with form and structure in a way that few older artists even try to attempt.
The book opens with the titular tale, "I Will Bite You." The oldest story in the book (dating back to 2006), it features a monstrous, angry young boy who fumes at the happiness around him and acts out by taking big bites out of almost everything and everyone he sees. Ultimately, he goes too far and chomps on the moon. It's a dark tale, which is typical for Lambert, but it's drawn with great joy.
The second tale, "After School Snacks," has been redrawn for this book from its original publication. It's a bit different for Lambert, in that it actually has words. But Lambert does more than just add dialogue—the words themselves are an integral part of the artwork and story as two hungry monsters eat a little girl and then try to eat her friend. At one point, the monsters eat a dialogue balloon, preventing the children from calling out for help. In another panel, a word balloon cleverly hides something that would have been too disgusting for Lambert to draw.
Next up we have "Mom Said," the only original story in the book. This is drawn in a much sketchier manner (Lambert refuses to lock himself into one art style) but keeps up the surreal imagery as sound is turned into images.
Sound also plays a part in "Turtle," a retelling of the classic Hare and Rabbit fable as a joyful exploration of cartooning as music. If it's possible to turn jazz into static images, this is as close as you're going to get.
"PSR" is the most strongly plotted story in the book. Once a year, a man buys himself an ice cream cone, only to have it stolen away by a little girl who replaces it with a piece of paper, a pair of scissors, and then, in year three, a rock. But just when you think all is lost for this poor man, he gets his revenge in the end. This is an extremely subtle tale, and it repays rereading for all of the little details Lambert hides in the panels.
"Too Far" is an ambitious story about a boy dominated by his abusive father. Biting things comes into play again here as the boy consumes his father, then (in a delightful sequence) his shame, and ultimately the entire world. But the world goes on in his stomach without him and the family, in a way, ends up coming together in the end. This is a surreal but sad and slightly brutal story.
The only full-color story in the book comes next. "Caveman" is another wordless tale, one of whom may or may not be dead. I've seen other color work from Lambert in minicomics form, and this is typical of his incredible sense of color and design.
The book closes with "Everyday," a sequence of seven daily encounters between a boy and the sun, usually ending with the boy's death. This contains some of Lambert's least detailed yet most powerful images and ends the collection on a suitable note that is both dark and hopeful at the same time.
As with most short-story collections, I Will Bite You isn't quite satisfying in terms of story, but when it comes to scope, artwork, style and promise, it stands head and shoulders above the pack.
