Smoking Kills by Thijis Desmet. Translated by Trace Demon and Gryla Skullking. F.U. Press / Fantagraphics, 2023. 9781683969150. 166pp.
Two dead dudes hang out. The ghost smokes. The skeleton guy can’t quite face the fact that he’s dead. They wander along train tracks, in playgrounds, and in parking lots. Their world is empty, or at least there doesn’t seem to be anyone else around. They try to save a whale. Then there’s an adventure of sorts; it feels like a whole new start with new characters (a vampire and a mummy), but maybe it’s just an interlude? Or a reflection of how the world works?
I want to say the book is all pencils, mostly grays plus blue and black and red. But there are other colors, too; yellow, when it appears, feels explosive, and some panels appear to have been inked. Desmet draws the crap out of the few forest scenes, and I particularly love the feel of the rain he draws.
Characters speak in different colored fonts, and their conversations meander in the best ways. Desmet’s graphic novel reminds me of the work of Brecht Evens a bit, but it is entirely its own, odd thing, and it left me with questions. I’m going to have to buy myself a copy to ponder it a bit more.
