Mark Martin: Crazy Boss
Mark Martin has been one of my favorite humor comics artists. His work is marked by a superficial parody that indicates a complete lack of subtlty, which, at it's worst moments can be a bit shrill. However, he has shown again and again that he can sustain a parody in a long-form improvisation that reveals a more satirical intent. Martin is one of the few comics humorists who consistently gets me to laugh out loud. This is because he deftly combines slapstick and parody, yet is also able to leave the reader with a few serious questions. His on-line comic, a work-in-progress called Crazy Boss starts out as a modern office parody which is more than mildly funny. But the story takes some strange turns, all of which up the stakes for the characters, writer, and readers.
The first three chapters of Crazy Boss are presented in greyscale, and tell the story of a small office of a start-up business with a fabric-softener product that just isn't taking off. It's a bizarre sitcom that's engaging, but turns out just to be a set-up for a more complex turn of events. The fourth chapter of Crazy Boss is in interlude featuring a parody of a soap opera "City Hospital" that pulls out all the stops to get its laughs. Full color graphics, animated GIF's, creative screen layouts and utilization of fonts -- this segment is a real technical marvel! The only thing missing is sound. As I mentioned above, there are moments where the parody gets a bit shrill, but that's more a matter of personal taste, and (getting philosophical, here) I have no problem filtering out parts that are too over-the-top for my personal tastes. In fact, I prefer that to having a story that ends up being lame for want of pushing the limits of the audience's expectations.
After the City Hospital segment, we return to the Crazy Boss storyline and the greyscale presentation. But the plot takes a metaphysical twist that turns out to be very well thought-out. In fact, the plot really left me hanging. Unfortunately, Martin has put Crazy Boss on temporary hiatus while he pursues paying work. Too bad, because this story has turned out to be a brilliant piece of web comics.
If you're the kind of person who doesn't want to be left hanging in the middle of a story, at the very least check out the "City Hospital" for a funny exploration of how the web can enhance the comics experience while remaining true to the artform (that is, without sliding down the slippery slope to animation/film). Note that the art style employed in "City Hospital" is quite different from that of Crazy Boss. It's another indication of Mark Martin's level of talent and skill.