Floating World Comics puts out some of my favorite indie stuff lately so when I saw the solicitation for, "Night Cruising," it caught my eye. Focusing on a trouble-making youth named Ricky, the comic features him cruising around Los Angeles getting up to worse and worse trouble. Creator, Harry Nerdlinger (of," Vacuum Decay," fame) has said online that the comic was, "...inspired by just the mood of driving around LA at night, listening to the Cure, the Doors, and late-era Bowie. I think Lost Highway probably had a big influence on the general imagery." I haven't seen, "Lost Highway," but know it is quite trippy and I'd say, "Night Cruising," is without a doubt a surreal little dip into madness.
The comic opens as Ricky drops off a lady after a date that seems to have been very proper and polite but then things quickly get dark. Ricky zips around the city getting up to all kinds of nefarious activities and it is hinted that since a head injury, he has been not quite right, although he maybe was already pretty, "Off," to begin with.
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| Something is seriously wrong with Ricky. |
Nerdlinger's use of black-and-white results in lots of darkness mixed with blinding brightness when a car's headlights shine or Ricky goes into an ominous diner. The contrast helps contribute to the disorienting nature of the comic as Ricky seems to careen all around the city, only stopping to get into trouble. "Night Cruising," definitely puts readers ill at ease as they read it and Nerdlinger has created a freaky and eerie one-shot. If you like ominous tales that aren't quite horror but clearly are twisted and discomforting, then, "Night Cruising," is worth checking out.
5 out of 5 stars.
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