The Land of Nod Treasury (1994),
The Land of Nod (1996) #1-3 by Jay Stephens
Up until now, Black Eye had published all their comics in standard US comics size (except for the two magazine-sized issues of Sputnik). So the Land of Nod Treasury represented something of a rupture in Black Eye’s publishing, because from now on, I don’t think they published a single thing in standard formats? (I’m just fondling the little stack of comics to be read, so I may be somewhat off here, but not by much.)
Instead Black Eye would publish their pamphlets in a slightly smaller size than normal — in the size that was pioneered by Chester Brown’s Underwater, perhaps? Or did the final issues of Yummy Fur also use this format? I forget. Perhaps they used the same printer? They’re both publishers in Canada…
The thicker books that Black Eye would publish came with French flaps, I think they’re called. So this gives the lineup a quite distinctive and higher class look — they’ve always had a good design sense, and this new format is a good thing.
Anyway, first out in this new design direction is this collection of comics from Jay Stephens — the Land of Nod strips that were originally published in Reactor Girl, Sin and Sin Comics (plus some other odds and ends).
Evan Dorkin does the introduction.
Sin was a very chaotic series that read wonderfully — it was one loopy thing after another.
(While the book is a very nice format, the paper chosen here isn’t ideal — there’s a lot of bleed through. Paper selection was such a big deal back in the 80s and 90s — people never seem to have these problems these days… but perhaps that’s because all comics are printed in China and the paper weight isn’t something that affects the price noticeably, so everybody goes for better paper?)
Sometimes when you collect stuff like that in a thicker book, it doesn’t really survive the transition, because what can seem fun and whimsical in a pamphlet can become twee and annoying in a collection.
That’s not the case at all here — it’s like these comics were made to be collected. There’s definitely a cumulative effect where all these nonsensical bits become funnier and funnier.
There wasn’t a clear line between the Land of Nod strips and the rest in Sin, so you have to decide whether to include things like this Badman strip that leads into a Land of Nod thing — but I think it works well. Even if you don’t know that Badman is a continuing character, this just feels like one more random gag in this book.
Is this autobio!?
This book also collects the Land of Nod bits that were slated for Sin #6, and which had never been published before (because Tragedy Strikes Press kinda dissolved). It’s a bit of a downer of an ending — most everybody dies, so it seems like Stephens was aiming for Sin #6 to be the end of the series anyway.
And then we get some sketchbook stuff.
So — it’s a very good book indeed. Collected like this, the storyline (for some values of) becomes clearer, and the gags land even better.
Then, a couple years later, while Stephens was also doing Atomic City Tales, we get a Land of Nod series.
These are in the new, smaller format, and are only 24 pages long, and are printed on newsprint-ey paper. This makes these books very, very light indeed, and I’m guessing comics nerds (notoriously cheap as they are) were standing in the comics shop going “I could buy this book… but this issue of Spawn masses 200% more and has 33% more pages! And only a quarter of them are ads! I’m buying Spawn instead of Land of Nod!”
The inside front cover explains that each issue would focus on one character (from Sin/Sin Comics, I guess). And they do, kind of, but:
Stephens can’t help himself, and drops in a few pages of a comic book one of the characters are reading.
Super sharp cartooning.
The second issue is all like this — it’s 288 panels of horrible things happening to this guy.
The third and final issue uses a ligne grasse style — I don’t think I’ve seen this style from Stephens before?
So he’s developing a lot as an artist, but I can’t say that I was really gripped by any of these issues.
The Comics Journal #176, page #120:
When Jay Stephens first
burst On the scene with Sin,
confusion reigned. This is not to suggest that Sin
was incomprehensible. but a reader had to pay very
close attention to realize what was going on. (This
reader will cheerfully confess to being totally mys-
tified.)
If you Were confused and mystified by Sin (and
perhaps therefore stopped reading it), please pick
up The Land of Nod Treasury. Everything that was
in Sin, including the bizarre interruptions in the
plot, seemingly unrelated stories (often drawn in
strikingly different drawing styles), and its
fundamentally bizarre
premise, all make sense
read it in one go. Tired
neologisms like
modern” and “meta-
fiction” were invented
to books like
The Land of Nod, but don’t let that frighten you
away. The Land of Nod Treasury is a delightful
book.
The Land of Nod is a place where stories read
in comic books eventually become part Of the read.
ers’ reality. This blending of the books within a
book may remind readers of “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis
Tertius” and If 0m a Winter’s Night a Traveler, but
you won’t recall those fine literary works being
quite as goofy as The land of Nod Treasury. With
the well-meaning but ineffectual Dave. the reckless
Merv, and various other funny animal characters
(including numerous insects who would like every.
one to take their concerns just a little more seri-
ously), the Land of Nod is a place where every
character is a potential plot, all of which go off in
various directions. occasionally resolving them-
selves long after you’ve forgotten them.
The land of Nod Treasury is the freshest take
on funny animals in a long time. Forget Disney Ad.
ventures — this is the shit!
ROBERT BOYD
Darcy Sullivan writes in The Comics Journal #179, page #45:
AT THE RIPE OLD AGE of 24, Jay
Stephens is already getting hassled by people
who say his older comics were better.
Considering thatStephens only stopped doing
his “older” comics last year, this seems a bit
perverse. Until you read The I-and of Nod
Treasury.
This book, which Black Eye Productions
published at the end of last year, compiles
Stephens’ comics from two series Of his book
Sin (1992-94). It’s quite simply one of the
most wonderful comics of the last year. Mix-
ing abundant charm with cartooning chops,
Stephens makes The Land of Nod Treasury
into a real anomaly: a kiddie comic for adults.
In a sense, Stephens’ Nod stories are to
Walt Disney comics what Bone is to Pogo.
But Stephens reworks the funny-ani mal genre
more radically than Smith does, managing to
be both Cute and Obscene at once. In another
sense, these stories of slapabout characters whose
moods and plots change panel-to-panel are like
the best cartoons your kid brother ever drew to
amuse you on a family road trip. There’s even a
monster who gobbles up the other characters
when the ostensible story starts thinning out.
Pages later, an equally sudden lottery win has the
book’s survivors casting off the tragedy and
sunning themselves by a pool. Stephens seem to
have been making it up as he went along, without
running out of steam.
Wizard Magazine #56, page #75:
Stephens’ two new series separate the
parts of his earlier work into different
comics. “I’m interested in a lot of different
styles of storytelling and cartooning,”
Stephens explains. “l used to think mixing
it up in one comic like Sin was cool, but I
wasn’t getting enough room to play with
each of those techniques. Now I have two
different comic books, each with quite dif-
ferent styles. If you know my work, you can
tell it’s all by the same guy, but both comics
really cover a lot of ground for me. Maybe
I’m too ambitious, but I think I can do it.”
Aside from the different subject matter
of Land of Nod and Atomic City Tales,
Stephens’ two new series provide him with
new challenges, and the reader with very
entertaining stories. Every issue of Land of
Nod will feature a complete story focusing
on one character from a memorable cast,
including Space Ape Number Eight, Cap-
tain Rightful, Tutenstein the Mummy Boy,
and Irwin.
The Comics Journal #212, page #97:
SW-IVAN: — you didn’t have a very happy experience
withyour three-issue Land ofNodfor Black Eye. Didyou
think ofdoing this Dark Horse book with a different title
than The Land of Nod?
STERENS: Yeah, I wanted to call itJet Cat.
SILLIVAN: But… ?
STERENS: Well.. Dark Horse thought that — this
r m sure is going to send chuckles through the alterna-
tive comics crowd — the name recognition would
bring in my fan base. [laughs] Like I had any readers.
Of course it didn’t work. I’ve heard from people who
Were fond of the Black Eye stuff and had no idea that
Dark Horse had done Land of Nod issues.
The Comics Journal #212, page #103:
SULLIVAN: I was thinking ofthe Black Eye Land of Nod
issues. The Captain Rightful co•ver is very nice.
STEPHENS: I actually hate that cover. Thads another
one of those Michel screw-up things.
SULLIVAN: Hou 50?
STERENS: Thads completely his design. He threw out
every suggestion I had, and just went with his own
thing. And it went to press his way. So rm not too
happy with it. I had a whole negative background thing
ing on that was really cool. At least I thought so.
aybe you wouldn’t think so. [both laugh]
My favorite stuff is the recent Land ofNodJet Cat
stuff for Dark Horse. The last thing I did is always
going to be my favorite one. Ifitwasn’t, I’d have to kill
myself. You know, if I really thought that the work I
did fouryears ago was mybestwork… mygod! [laughs]
Who can live like that?
SULLIVAN: But do you everfeel like Woody Allen? Do you
ewer get those people who go, •The original Sins were the
great —
STEPHENS:You know, Darcy, I think thaeswhatmakes
me feel old. That’s what makes me feel like six years
ago was a long time ago. I get that all the time. I did
those five issues in like halfa year. So a year after I
debuted in comics, I had people saying they liked my
older material better.
The Comics Journal #186, page #35:
IF HANNA-BARBARA DEALT with
existential angst and deconstructionalism, the
end result would probably resemble The Innd
of Nod, the new comic from Jay Stephens. I
sincerely doubt, however, that they would do
anywhere near as good a job as he has.
Make no mistake, this book is quite an
achievement. Without ever pausing for breath,
Stephens manages to recreate all the fun of such
goofy saturday morning interstellar operas as
Space Ghost (and their comic book counter-
parts), while adding his own disturbing set of
spices to the recipe. All this without once seem-
ing “hip” or pretentious. The most amazing
thing, considering how the story ends, is how
much fun I had reading it.
The secret, I think, is that Stephens doesn’t
look down on his subject matter the way other
“alternative” artists like Daniel ClowesorTerry
LaBan often do. You can tell just by glancing at
the story that he has a genuine love for funny
animals and silly adventure comics that tran-
scends any possible grown-up disdain. There’ s
no “God, I hate superheroes, and funny ani-
mals, and people in general, so I ‘ m gonna rip all
that shit up right before your very eyes,” atti-
tude going on here at all. No false notes or faux
intellectual comments here, folks. As a result,
it’s impossible not to get swept up in the tide of
his enthusiasm.
writes in The Comics Journal #212, page #94:
SIRLIVAN: The third issue looks like it was printedfom
your pencils —yean
STEHENS: No, ifs actually inked and crayoned.
reproduced from black final art, but i ds much rougher.
a departure in art styles for me, definitely. Those
three books have completely differentvisual approaches,
and I was trying to do that. I think every project I kte
done has had Rs own particular look, including the
Oddville strip.
SULLIVAN: No•w, you mentioned the misprinting of the
third one. They’ve left off words from uord balloons,
they Q done one caption twice Of having the
SALOMEy:•
diffrent caption that’s supposed to be there. What hap-
pened?
STEPHENS: What happened is.. .Michel for some rea-
son decided that even though the artwork’s all messy
and rough, the lettering might have a bit too many
black flecks on it for reproduction. I was in Prague for
all of this. The issue should have been out and on the
stands before I left, and wasn’t, which was another
continuing problem with Black Eye. I mean, poor
Michel — I don’t know why he thinks it has to be a
one-man operation, but you can’t do everything. Any-
way , so first ofall he decided to Scan the lettering, clean
it up and drop it back in. Whatever. Thadshis preroga-
tive, I suppose, as a publisher. So he personally made
the mistake of dropping the same thing in twice, or
forgetting to drop something in. Thads fine. The
tragedy comes when the bluelines, which he’s paying
good money for, come in, and he doesn’t look at them.
He didn ‘t checkover the printer’s blueline copy, and he
had the book printed — the fill run — with errors,
which is a pretty big mistake. And from what I hear, in
the same couple of months that he did that was the
whole Black Eye disaster, which I don’t need to cover
— I mean, it was covered in an earlier Journal article.
There were missing pages in Bnlbakeds book He
printed poor Brian Biggs’ cover upside down — it was
a disaster. He forgot to ship books to a small press
convention — just a disaster. It was a mess. I’m
embarrassed talking about it.
SULLIVAN: It’s unfortunate, because he uas publishing a
lot Of teOrk. He Obviously cared about it. I’m sure he
either not making money or not making Very much
money.
STEPHENS: He was not making money. But that brings
up an interesting point. You say that as ifthaes a good
thing.
SIILIVAN: NO, no, r m not saying that’s a good thing.
saying poor
I’d fcrgcttet’i how much enjoyed these pieces. Since growing a litt e dissatis
fed with Jay Stephens’ work in Atomic City Tales, hadn’t picked up this (Olec-
tion of the “Nod” stories from Sin and other scurces. But as Stephens was
doing a signing here at Chicago (omics, and seeing as hcw he (harmed the
sc«s oii of me (he lccks just ‘ike he draws himself, exa(tly!!) I picked it up.
And it is wonderful. Evan Dorkin describes “Nod” as tja funnybook for adults
who haven’t ‘et adulthood ruin them.” It is simple stories, which are humov
015 with a dark steak. Like Pickle there is a iot of love for comics in the sto-
ries, but here the (haracters love Superhero books. An interesting (hoke is
that none of the “Atomic City; bits from which Stephens’ current bocK leaps,
are reprinted here. Whenever a character cpens a comic the story he reads is
skipped. The emphasis here is on Nod. And love it. The cartoon characters
who live in tGe I-and of Nod are wonderful. Alternately cruel and innocent
they can be capab!e of great evi’ while rct completely understanding ffe
damage they do. The cartccning is simple, stories are simple, yet they have
much treat to them. I was much enheartened when Stephens told me Ncd
be appearing in ACT in the future, that it would nct be ali superheroes.
These stcries have the irnccence that his suoerhero stories lack and work on
a few more levels. Great book Highly recommended.
Man, the Black Eye books got a lot of press at the time… I think that’s enough, because I have to go run some errands.
The Land of Nod series has continued after this series ended.
This blog post is part of the Total Black Eye series.