Review -- THE POSSUM

The Possum
Written by Blair Kitchen
Pencils by Blair Kitchen
Possum Press
If you like comics heavy on the tongue-in-cheek humour, then The Possum by Canadian creator Blair Kitchen is an absolute must.
Kitchen has a great handle on the stereotypes associated with both superheros in comic books, but also those dealing with comic readers and collectors. He uses both to great advantage in The Possum.
As you might have guessed The Possum is a superhero, well at least he’s a young man that acquires some level of powers and wants to be a typical superhero. He does manage some heroic moments, but in a decidedly Pink Panther fashion. This guy can bumble his way through the bad guys.
Of course the bad guys here aren’t exactly world dominating types. Come on how scary are seven gun toting, masked midget Mexican wrestlers.
At times I am reminded of some past DC efforts with Plastic Man, although this ends up being even more over-the-top, and that’s fine by me.
The idea for The Possum as a character has been with creator Blair Kitchen for some time.
“My original drawing of the Possum was in Grade 10 (1992),” he said. “I drew him in English class, trying to come up with the lamest superhero. It was one of many doodles I would draw during classes. “I never even looked at the drawing again until 10 years later. I had wanted to do a comic book, but didn’t know what to do, and one day as I was preparing to move, I stumbled across my sketchbook and the drawing. “The idea for the comic came really quick after that and I immediately started sketching. I made one attempt to start the comic and got about six pages into it, then put it away for a while. I then started over again fresh, and it took me about a year and a half, on and off, working in the evenings and weekends.”
As humorous as the title is, Kitchen said he drew from more traditional comics in terms of influence.
“Conscious influences are Spider-man, Batman, Groo and Ronald Searle (illustrator), with a bit of Cerebus,” he said. “Mad Magazine wasn’t conscious at the time, but I loved Don Martin as a kid. “I studied animation at Sheridan College in Oakville, ON., and have worked in animation since 1998, animating for movies such as Curious George, and working on many commercials. “I’m currently doing storyboards for television. “My art influences are comics of course, but I also love artists like Mucha and Liendecker, and countless others.”
As for the comic reader angle, there is a supporting storyline around a comic store that is simply a hoot if you are a one-time collector. Inside style jokes, but they work.Kitchen uses a strong cartoon style, which at times reminds of Mad Magazine, and it is absolutely perfect for The Possum. Kitchen said the style just happened for him.
“I love Mad magazine, but it wasn't intentional,” he said. “I work in animation, where you are forced to draw someone else's style, and follow someone else’s story, so I just wanted to draw how I naturally draw and write whatever came out.”
Kitchen said he likes what he accomplished with The Possum.
“There's always things I would like to do better, but overall it has the feel that I was going for,” he said. “I have had very positive feedback from people who have read the book, and the letters pages are an indication. The goal now is to get more people aware of it.”
New readers and old can expect more adventures for The Possum.
“I've got so many stories in my head, but I can’t get into them all here,” he said. “I really want to focus on the Steve Tacola and Stuart Spankly storyline next, and really develop it. I have no intention to stop making these comics, and I'd love to be able to do it full time one of these days.”
As long as you appreciate humour in a comic, then The Possum is an excellent choice. Very funny.
Check it out at www.possumpress.comKitchen also has a blog at www.possumpress.com/blog, and an online store at www.possumpress.com/store
-- CALVIN DANIELS

-- Appeared on Yorkton This Week WebXtra