Iconic Art Post – Multiple Warheads by Brandon Graham

Brandon Graham’s art is very unique, colourful and gorgeous. He has his own way of drawing which is great itself, but he places so much emphasis on the little things. This is what I would like to focus on because it is what makes Multiple Warheads special. The main story is compelling enough but I spend ages reading and observing the extra bits. The two panels are examples of this because they bear no real relevance, however they are informative, clever and very funny!

The two main characters decide to order take out food and then we are treated to the menu! It is quite remarkable that we essentially look at the page as the main characters do, and we can see what they decide. It is as if we are involved in the decision. The menu is just brilliant because it has recognisable dishes, but with interesting twists and moments of hilarity. Looking at it is a journey of discovery, as we work our way across it. My highlights include the brahmaputta, which can be made with gryphan, cheese or ends meet, and then the annotation states that time should be allowed to make ends meet! Just a brilliant play on words relating to a commonly used phrase, and there are tons of examples of these. I adore the soup section and the poop steak, which are fine foods passed through the body of a creature called girk, but not just any girk, a happy girk! Personally given that I am a vegetarian, I would order the kissing couscousins served in bread and alko-hole milk!

The final page is an extra Easter egg, as it gives the rules to a truly bizarre game, mentioned in the comic, called Leggers Dozens. The bright colouring and heavy quirky pencilling makes it very visually appealing. You would think the bright pink, green, yellow colours would look garish, but they fit with the ridiculousness of the game. The winner of the game is the person who births the most calves using a machine that seems to distil perfumes. My favourite part of this is that the animal is called a leggers, and the male of the species appears just to be a gonad sitting in the legger’s third leg!

Its definitely kooky, its looks good, and I can talk about it all day. But it is important that you spend time discovering what it on the page on your own. You cannot fault the effort Brandon Graham has gone to, to make the comic look good and feel like it has its very own existence. As well as the plot narrative, these annotations develop the world he has created, and help us to feel part of it. I implore everyone to read these books because the art is so worth enjoying. It is not often we get a chance to pick up a book like this.