The Clarence Principle

Created by: Fehed Said and Shari Chankhamma

Published by: PUBLISHER

ISBN: 1593620640 Amazon

Pages: 224

The Clarence Principle by Fehed Said and Shari Chankhamma

While I'd never heard of either Fehed Said or Shari Chankhamma, SLG (the book's publisher) had built up enough good will from me over the years that any time I would see their label, I'd at least pick up a book of theirs and browse through it to see if it looked worthwhile. On picking up The Clarence Principle, I found myself immediately attracted. The art was rather Scott Pilgrim/manga-y with heavy washes of dark ink (kinda like what I remember seeing in Area 88 as a kid, but much heavier). The character designs were sleek and playful and the mood was thick. So I picked it up for a lean $12.95.

The Clarence Principle by Fehed Said and Shari Chankhamma

Money well-spent. It's rare that I come to the end of a book (comic or otherwise) and just lose my breath from being astounded. I sat there dumb-founded. It was a good sort of feeling—to not really know what to think. I think it had been a long time since I had been surprised.

The Clarence Principle by Fehed Said and Shari Chankhamma

So then, The Clarence Principle. There's this guy, Clarence (!), who's just committed suicide in a tub for reasons that are only ephemerally developed throughout the story. Clarence wakes up in some strange afterlife with rules and a populace he pretty much takes in stride, despite the strange horror of the whole thing. Clarence, at one point, compares his journey to Alice's through Wonderland. Fitting, certainly. But you know how Alice in Wonderland is a pretty dark story? The Clarence Principle is like Alice in Wonderland... but dark. It's also morbidly humourous and kept me consistently chuckling at its macabre. Until the end, that is, when I clammed up entirely and tried to let the whole thing wash over me.

As if I had any choice.

The Clarence Principle by Fehed Said and Shari Chankhamma

 

 

Good Ok Bad features reviews of comics, graphic novels, manga, et cetera using a rare and auspicious three-star rating system. Point systems are notoriously fiddly, so here it's been pared down to three simple possibilities:

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I am Seth T. Hahne and these are my reviews.

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