by Gabrielle Bell, Drawn & Quarterly

Lucky #1 is a neat little comic with a unique premise. The first half of the book is a straight autobiographical account of author Gabrielle Bell’s experiences giving slideshow readings of one of her dream comics. The second half is the dream comic. It’s a little like Chester Brown’s “Helder”/”Showing ‘Helder’” from Yummy Fur #19 and 20 in reverse.

Bell’s art is economical and, especially in the first half of the book (by necessity the more recently completed half) enhanced by the skillful use of spotted blacks. The fun of the autobiographical segment comes in part from Bell’s nagging insecurity and her despairing internal monologue. This is ground well-trod by dozens of autobio comics, but it’s well done here. And Bell has an added hook: she keeps giving tantalizing hints about the story she is performing; the comic is essentially a mystery, the mystery being just what it is she’s talking about. In any journal-type comic there are innumerable mysteries, as characters known to the narrator/artist appear and disappear without explanation, and this gives every impression of being just another one. But then the second half of the comic comes along, and there’s the solution. The solution turns out to be a strange narrative that does not make much more sense than its fragments did, but it’s a fun surreal ride.

Neither half of Lucky #1 represents Bell’s best work–her one-pagers in MOME may constitute that–but they manage to support each other pleasantly, and stand up better together than either would alone.