O.B.B. a.k.a The original brown boy

A former poet laureate of Queens, New York, Javier (Court of the Dragon, 2015) has teamed up with two visual artists to create a unique collaboration that's laid out like a 'zine, those self-produced publications often Xeroxed together and made popular before internet access became commonplace. Indeed, the book is packed with facsimiles of journal pages and handwritten lyrics, photographs, illustrations, and collage art. The opening sections include only a smattering of words on each page, and nearly the entire second half is formatted like a comic book. The impressive sum of the book's divergent parts serves the author's unusual heritage and background: Javier was born in the Philippines and a past resident of Egypt and Canada, and his primary speaker is the O.B.B., or the "Original Brown Boy." Inside this multidisciplinary collaboration are bright linguistic jabs and gems ("You're nothing but a Tagalog teacher"), as well as pitch-perfect references to the early aughts (searching for songs on Napster), the pinnacle of 'zine culture. Similar in ways to Alan Pelaez Lopez's Intergalactic Travels (2020), this eclectic title will appeal to readers of avant-garde poetry and fans of illustrated narrative art.

The intriguing fifth collection from Javier (Court of the Dragon) collects six visceral poetry comics sequences with art by Alexander Tarampi and Ernest Concepcion. Inspired by Lynda Barry and bpNichol but wielding their own severe, fragmented twist, each entry explores immigration, the normative family, and the imaginative power of the juxtaposition between word and image. "Aren't You a Mess" presents pixelated images and fragments in parallel, while "Last Gasp" uses a more familiar comics style but pairs distorted cartoon and hyperrealistic schematics. Even "Remain as Beast," which takes the most conventionally poetic approach in generating a series of stanzas, seems inspired by the wide lens of the visual: "I see my/ baby don't leave partly falls aloud love to When you always I," one entry ends. In a long afterword, Javier offers a history of the comics-poem, describing his evolving interest in comics as a type of poetry, and briefly recounting the process of the book's composition. Readers interested in the potential of this unusual form will find the book's exploration and context invaluable, though those looking for a conventional reading experience may find the comics distract from the verse. (Aug.)