John Pham

Sublife #2 is even more interesting than it's predecessor, as John Pham expands his palette of ideas considerably beyond the somewhat narrow scope of the first installment. He's still using the familiar peach-and-blue color scheme, and the familiar restrained approach to plotting and dialogue is still in evidence, but the scope of ideas and subject matter has expanded to great effect. The individual pieces remain unnamed, and at least some of them are continuations of stories begun in the first volume. Presumably they will continue into Sublife #3, which I will am definitely looking forward to.… (mere)

Prior to reading Sublife #1, I was only familiar with John Pham's work from the pages of Mome, where he was featured in several of the early issues. I had found his contributions to Mome to be a bit dry, but after reading Sublife #1 I have definitely gained a deeper appreciation of his art, even if not all of these pieces are by any means perfect. Pham's strength is his ability to mix the mundane with the surreal, and allow awkward and off-kilter moments their full due. His style allows the necessary space (both visually and narratively) for the small things, an achievement that eludes many of his peers. And there's no ignoring his pale orange-and-blue color palette - it's odd at first, but after a few pages it does seem entirely appropriate for his (apparently) Southern California setting. Certainly there's enough here to make me want to read on into the next installment of Sublife.… (mere)