Graphic Novel Of The Month

Meanwhile: Pick Any Path: 3,856 Story Possibilities (Amulet Books): It took a couple of advanced algorithms and an SGI supercomputer to track the story permutations and configure the physical layout of this ambitious book. While it will be instantly reminiscent of the old Choose Your Own Adventure books for anyone in their 30’s, the result is a totally unique vision from a humble mathematical genius. Like the proverbial butterfly-flapping-its-wings chaos theory, your fate in this book hinges on small innocuous decisions like whether or not to look in someone’s medicine cabinet on a seemingly casual trip to the bathroom. You’re presented with continual choices that lead you skipping around the book following small visual pathways onto the tabs of other pages. It’s the small moments that drastically alter the outcome, sometimes leading to traps like arguing with a version of yourself 10 minutes from the future. Writer/artist Jason Shiga touches on many of the paradoxes found in theoretical quantum physics, and exhibits theories of time travel that would make Warren Ellis proud. At times, there is such a parity of thought that it feels like Ellis consulted with Shiga on that last issue of Planetary in order to figure out how to save Ambrose Chase. Most of the adventures I experienced ended in disaster, a few were concerned with immortality in a multiversal setting, and a couple of pages repeated themselves (such as the coin flip sequence). Some of the book contained two sets of identical pages and I couldn’t figure out the storytelling reason as to why this was. I suspect it was just a pragmatic decision to make the various paths in the book work. As an aside, I think it’s impossible to get to the “squid page” (which is almost certainly a nod to the book “Inside UFO 54-40,” in which reaching paradise wasn’t obtainable via any natural path in the book, but required ignoring the “rules,” deviating from the choices presented, and just flipping to that elusive page), but I’m certainly not mathematically inclined enough to figure it out for certain. Shiga is a Bay Area comics scene staple, always at APE, educated at UC Berkeley, and known for the intricate construction of his books. Meanwhile makes a nice addition to the expanding Shiga library, with Fleep and Bookhunter being my personal favorites (both from Sparkplug Comics and both nominated for Eisners in 2004 and 2007 respectively). It’s inventive, fun, brilliant, and I can continue to hurl a bunch of adjectives at this book when what I’m really trying to say is twofold. One, it saddens me to think that because this wasn’t published by a “comic book company,” that many people probably won’t see it. Two, I don’t think that’ll stop it, and I’ll be very surprised if this doesn’t receive at least a nomination for an Eisner Award. Grade A.