Attica! Attica!

The Auteur #2
Writer: Rick Spears
Artist: James Callahan
Colours: Luigi Anderson
Letters: Sick Rears
April 2014
Oni Press

Despite having read this series when it was originally released, I've been having a blast rereading it, especially the bits that my brain forgot to absorb. The Auteur is very likely the most fun I've had reading ongoing comics. Robinson and Hinkle's Airboy is a close second (review of that coming next week!). As the first issue did, The Auteur #2 continues to parody and mock genre tropes, particularly horror ones this time around. There are also jabs at courtroom dramas and the legal system. Although I haven't seen it, the film A Few Good Men springs to mind when reading these scenes.

While I think The Auteur #1 was wonderfully balanced in terms of plot, character, and story development, especially for a first issue, The Auteur #2 takes it a step further and tightens its focus. While the first issue set the stage for the series, issue #2 tells a smaller story about how Nathan T. Rex managed to have the savage serial killer Darwin released from prison to be the murder consultant on his new film project, President's Day. (Imagine if something like this happened for the TV show Dexter... geezus.) Without spoiling details, as I'm sure you can imagine, T. Rex goes to some pretty great lengths to have Darwin released from incarceration. It's bizarrely satisfying to listen to his claims for the release of Darwin; it reminds me of some bat-shit wacko ideas that some right-wingers have. Just like everything else in the book, those are obviously just as exaggerated as everything else (but are they really though?).

Opening page

There are mild references to films such as Rosemary's Baby, The House of the Devil, Psycho, Friday the 13th, and perhaps others that I may have missed. There is a notable reference to Dog Day Afternoon that made me both chuckle and feel giddy since it worked so well in the story. All in all, this issue is loads of fun for fans of horror cinema, although I would say that the story doesn't really have anything to do with making films per se. It's moreso about the various processes that can occur during the pre-production stage of filmmaking, albeit an exaggerated one at that.

What impresses me so much about this series on the surface is the zaniness and unpredictability within its premise. The creative team is always finding ways to take the parody of mainstream Hollywood cinema further and make a mockery of it. It's so silly and ludicrous yet it never disappoints - the laughs are always there and the writing is top notch. The art is gorgeously rendered for such disgusting ideas and is consistent between panels of action and those of moments leading up to said action. Besides the obvious aspects, I appreciate how tightly knit the book is. Everything from pacing to panel layouts, and dialogue to character designs - you can tell the creators put their best efforts forth crafting this comic. The Auteur is not for everybody, but I'll be damned if someone told me it wasn't a well made comic.

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