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Comic journeys >> For two Montreal comic artists, a trip to India is the highlight of their Theatre of Cruelty by RUPERT BOTTENBERG
"I'd heard stories that you could easily be ripped off, because there are so many swindlers around. I thought I'd like to be in a room full of them, so that I could learn to recognize them. You should be careful what you wish for, because as soon as I got there, I fell in with the worst of them." Lafleur had already been in India a month when Tessier, just over a bad cold and in lousy shape, arrived looking for him. A string of less-than-reliable characters rooked Tessier to Kashmir. A hotbed of military activity, Kashmir was hardly the place where Tessier would find the tranquillity he sought.
Tessier, an accomplished photographer as well as comic writer, made a point of catching a great deal of their experiences on film. The resulting snapshots are worthy of an exhibition of their own, but served primarily as reference upon the pair's return home.
The later strips, culminating with To Chandra, offer greater visual breathing space. Its extended length gives the story the chance to unravel itself at a natural pace, allowing Tessier and Lafleur to toy with the nuances of their catalogue of symbols.
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The mythology of every human culture has its tales of young heroes who achieve enlightenment through arduous, humbling journeys. This was the theme chosen by Marc Tessier and Alexandre Lafleur for To Chandra From Surya, the 40-page centrepiece of their new Fantagraphics publication, The Theatre of Cruelty. In order to give the tale the ring of truth, the two Montreal comic creators undertook a journey of their own.
"Before leaving, we had the outline of the story in our heads," says Lafleur, "but we went to India to create it." Between October and December, 1995, Lafleur and Tessier undertook a pilgrimage in search of artistic inspiration (the work had already been commissioned by Fantagraphics publisher Gary Groth). "We went there to do the storyboards," says Tessier, "but we found ourselves travelling for two months."
The two were finally reunited after about a week, and from there put the worst behind them. At times, Tessier and Lafleur would paint exquisite patterns on their own faces and engage in impromptu street theatre, much to the delight of any children who happened to be around. "We went to the Sun Temple," recalls Tessier, "with its famous erotic sculptures. It was beautiful, these incredible carvings everywhere. But it was not pornographic. You could feel a love for women... pregnant women, women dancing, not just sex positions."
There is a parallel to Tessier and Lafleur's journey motif, to be found in their own evolution as artists. The shorter pieces that precede To Chandra From Surya in the book date back as far '92, and are dense, hectic and confrontational. The strip from which The Theatre of Cruelty takes its name is a good example. Created in '93, it is cruel and disorienting work, littered with filth and fluids, peopled by repellent miscreants masturbating before lurid freak shows.
After Marvel Comics' ultimately unsuccessful yet extremely destructive attempt to derail the expanding independent comics scene a couple of years ago, the adult side of the medium is at something of a crossroads. Publishers are giving more thought to the value of the graphic novel, in its bookshelf-friendly format, and exploring comics that don't revolve entirely around Generation X's self-indulgent autobiographical whining. With its unique perspective and aesthetics, part European and part American, the Quebec comic scene stands to have a significant impact on the direction of the medium. It's possible that Tessier and Lafleur's Theatre of Cruelty may be the next major milestone on that road.