Charles Burns, winner of the Eisner/Harvey/Ignatz graphic trifecta for Black Hole, dramatically explores the (un)balance of isolation and creativity in Final Cut. When they were young teenagers, Brian and Jimmy started making slasher films, complete with intergalactic worms and murder by forked eyeball. Now as young adults, filmmaking still looms large, particularly for Brian who, unlike affable Jimmy, prefers his intricate, surreal drawings being readied for their celluloid closeups to actual human interactions.
Their latest film, Brian explains to his star-to-be, Laurie, "is about my head.... It's about all the fucked-up shit going on inside my head." Inspired by the black-and-white classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Brian has "the whole movie all planned out," with storyboards reflecting his growing obsession with Laurie. She quickly realizes being on camera constantly "actually isn't all that fun," particularly as Brian's gaze becomes more intrusive. Brian, Jimmy, Laurie, and their crew manage to gather the raw footage, but intention and reality aren't aligned in the final cut.
Burns alternates chapters between Brian's and Laurie's points of view: Brian sinks further into his own fantasies; Laurie seems more grounded. Traversing between disparate perspectives encourages interactive engagement to distinguish between cleverly intricate layers of filmmaking and storytelling--the two are not the same. Burns's exactingly bordered layout underscores a need for order, as if he is keeping at least the visuals tightly controlled. Working in vivid colors (notably Laurie's ginger tresses) with every panel filled to the absolute edges, Burns memorably produces sweeping cinema on the page. --Terry Hong