I got sick! Out of the blue! Wiped me out for a week plus, holy moly. I never get sick! Wow! Nooo it wasn’t the China Flu it was something else, something…energetic. It felt like my body was recalibrating, assimilating, needed to purge some deep rooted stuff. Maybe reading all the Marvel stuff that I’ve read during the past year finally caught up to me. Your body can only take so much toxicity. Maybe all those awful Hulk, Daredevil, Thor, Black Panther, Avenger, Iron Fist books needed to be puked up. I mean, I never had to vomit but maybe if I did it would have coalesced in my toilet with the silhouette of C.B. Cebulski, Marvisney’s current editor in chief. Or maybe I’ve been so depressed with Zdarsky’s butt Batman run that my body just shut down from the pain. Anyway, most of the comics I read during my stupor weren’t necessarily review worthy – except this one. When I look back on the Marvisney Zdarsky Detox of 2023 that I had this past week I’ll remember how this comic ‘Deep Cuts’ reminded me that greatness still abounds in Comic Book Land if you dare to take a risk on a new title and look for it.
First of all, just picking up this book and you feel the weight of it, the gravitas, the card stock, the presentation – it all feels very important; like you’re reading an event, years in the making. Also, kudos to Image for all the tiny details it added to this book including the homage to the Blue Note logo on the cover. As for the story, it does not disappoint: A young clarinetist Charles ‘Ace’ Stewart tracks down Jack Cartier, a great trumpeter of the day in early 20th century New Orleans only to be let down by Cartier’s ego, greed and reckless ambition. In the process he finds his voice, his music and his redemption which includes his trial by fire with a piano player in a brothel. The creative team of Higgins, Clark, Beyruth, Monti and Otsmane weave a magical tale that feels like you’re reading music. The notes jump off the page with such lush passionate paneling that it somehow creates melodies within your mind. I mean, yeah, I was a little loopy from the icky I was feeling but there was a definite rhythm that you could feel with these characters and that is a testament to this team working lockstep off of each other. It felt like this book was created right from a second story flop house in the French Quarter with beignets and chicory root coffee flowing day after day; the love just poured into this book and it shows.
A major chunk of the book takes place in a brothel as Charles learns his repertoire from the resident pianist and befriends Daisy, one of the beautiful employees of the establishment. These scenes jolted within me the memories of the several times that I almost booked gigs as a comedian in naughty venues as well. I'm sure you're all sooo deeply interested in those moments aren't you?!?? Please regale us with these stories Issac. Fine, fine, twist my arm -
Back in the day one of my close comic friends created a
comedy show at Cheetah’s which is a strip club on the East Side of Hollywood. The
Comics would come out on the runway and do their shtick and in between acts
strippers would come out and do, well, do their shtick. It was quite a show and
I was promised a spot in the subsequent show that unfortunately never happened
as the show was cancelled after lasting only one night. I distinctly remember
hitting on one of the strippers that night and her actually really digging me.
Had I stuck around all night I’m pretty sure she would’ve left with me. The
problem for me was that I had to watch her ‘work the room’ in the final hours
before she was done and me and my immature uppity stupidity apparently didn’t
enjoy seeing my future date rubbing up and down and all around a bunch of yucky
business types so I left before she was finished; dumb ass. Anyway, I had all these bits and jokes set up for me to deliver while I was going to spin around the stripper pole; yes I know, the world is a bleaker darker place because those genius jokes were never delivered on that squeaky clean stage.
Another moment that I almost booked a gig in a naughty venue was at a local sex shop called ‘The Pleasure Chest’ on Santa Monica Blvd. near WeHo. It was actually a somewhat classy establishment, I had been in there a number of times and you never felt gross walking in; it just felt like a, I dunno, a shop that sold sex stuff. This was about ten years ago and they put a comedy show right on the floor when you walked in. It was hosted by T.J. Miller right before his career took off with the Silicon Valley show. You could tell that he was about to blow up, he just had this air of confidence about him and there was a lot of bustling energy around him. It’s funny how you just know when somebody is about to jump into the stratosphere; Dane Cook had that same vibe as well. Anyway, again, the show ended up getting cancelled before I was scheduled to book a spot so once again I was foiled from enjoying a gig at a naughty venue. I’ll have to figure that out one of these days. In the meantime, I’ll have to settle for living vicariously through the magical musical journey of Charles Stewart. It seems like this is the first in a six issue series and with this story wrapping up already I’m excited to see where this team goes next.
As far as I know, The Pleasure Chest and the Cheetah Club are still open for business so, you know, if, you know, this creative team, if you wanted to, you know, do a Jazzy Naughty thing here for one of those issues I could you know, maybe open for one of your acts, you know, you wouldn’t have to draw me or anything it would just, okay, I’ll stop. But, you know, okay, cool.
Rating: 9.3
Verdict: Pull
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