Ribstallments

Noel Tuazon
Ribstallments

Self-published, 2010

This small book is a collection of short comics written and drawn by Noel Tuazon. All of them are drawn in usual Tuazon’s style - black and white sketch-y illustrations. Tuazon usually acts as an artist, but in this book he shows himself also as the author of the plots. All the stories collected here are delicate stories with a touch of fantasy.

The most successful of all turned out, oddly enough, the first and last stories. In the first one, «Door», a person gets into some cave and sees the front door, entirely composed of human heads. No way out, and we can only guess that the heads in the door belong to the same, like this man, strangers who find themselves in a cave - and stayed here forever. The last story in the book, which has remained without a title, is much easier and more fun (although it only seems so, the last panel changes everything). In a post-apocalyptic world, a man in sunglasses and a little Asian girl somewhere go in the desert, hoping to find refuge. The man is clearly not the father of the little girl, but worries about her. The girl also keeps dangerous secrets.

The author without the use of color creates a very old-fashioned stories, with thick lines making drawing more convex. In «Ribstallments» Noel Tuazon established himself also as a fairly good writer.