By Tom Grozan
I'm here to talk to you about discovery. Not the crappy ELO album, but rather, the euphoric sense of discovery one feels when delving into a new pop-culture obsession. In this case, comic books. I'm told that our illustrious boss and four-color prophet for funny books in the mainstream media, Kevin Smith, has converted quite a few neophytes to the cause. This growing throng is taking tentative baby steps out of the ViewAskewniverse and asking, "What else is out there?"
Well, for the newly initiated, the world of comics is as eclectic and varied as movies, and just like with movies, you have to do some searching to find the really interesting stuff. The truly original and visionary comics work is not usually sitting on the shelf next to SPIDER-MAN and SUPERMAN, just like your local Blockbuster is not likely to have a copy of ERASERHEAD or HOUSE OF GAMES.
So that's why I'm here, to be your guide on this pop archeological dig, sifting through the sedimentary mediocrity of most comics. Each and every week, you will get a look at an overlooked treasure worth searching for in back-issue bins, on trade paperback shelves and on eBay. Something a cut above the average fare, so new fans can explore the diversity of comics, and hardcore fans can get a second chance on something they may have missed the first time around. Kind of a Bizarro version of Oprah's Book Club, but much cooler and with pictures. So without further ado, our first selection is ...
FINALS 1-4 (DC/Vertigo) by Will Pfeifer and Jill Thompson
Released in September 1999, FINALS was something of a departure for Vertigo, content-wise: a campus comedy, albeit one with a twist. (Vertigo is DC Comics' mature line, known for its horror fare like SANDMAN and HELLBLAZER.) In FINALS, the students of Knox State University, affectionately nicknamed Kaos U., are encouraged to live up to the motto, "Strength Through Study." At Kaos U., practically anything goes in the pursuit of gaining knowledge, and graduating is literally survival of the fittest. At orientation, when they say "take a look at the persons on either side of you, because one of them won't be there in the end," they mean it.
FINALS creates an extremely entertaining world where there are classes dedicated to studying "FACES OF DEATH III," the main sport is Aztec Ring Ball, the school newspaper uses the latest high-tech surveillance equipment and one of the main characters drives around with his own corpse iced in the trunk as proof of his academic breakthrough.
The story focuses on five seniors struggling with their senior projects, which comprise 75% of their grade and can make or break their college career. Wally Maurer is the slacker of the bunch. He's a film student who espouses his idea of "hyper-cinema verite" but has done little actual work to realize his vision. Those around him are considerably more dedicated. Wally's girlfriend Nancy Bierce is a comparative religions major who starts a cult centered around her. Dave Oswald is a criminal justice major that's been sticking up convenience stores for his project. Gary Shelton is an anthropology major who's attempting to de-evolve in the backyard. Theoretical engineering major Tim Pike is trying to be the first Knox State student to create a working time machine. The inevitably disastrous events of the story are kicked in motion when Dave accidentally shoots and kills a future version of Tim who unexpectedly appears out the time machine.
According to series writer Will Pfeifer, the idea for the series was conceived after catching one of his favorite authors on David Letterman. "I've always been a big fan of writer Mark Leyner, the author of such books as MY COUSIN, MY GASTROENTEROLOGIST and ET TU, BABE. I enjoyed the way he takes the most outrageous elements and presents them in a completely deadpan manner. After seeing him on Letterman one night, I just started jotting down some Leyner-esque ideas -- I don't know what they would be used for -- and came up with 'extreme college.' This is years before all those 'extreme' Mountain Dew-type ads, mind you. One idea I had that night was for an anthropology student who broke his own thumbs to see what a pre-opposable thumb hominid would be like. I thought that was twisted in an especially fine way, and I'm glad I was able to use it for Gary's senior project in FINALS. Not long after that, Jill Thompson and I were talking about working on a project, and I mentioned the college concept. We just started bouncing ideas off each other, including a David Koresh-inspired cult, and lots of college-student vs. townie themes. (I went to Kent State University in Ohio from 1985 to 1989, and Jill lived in Kent for a couple of years during that time, so we saw plenty of potential for conflict there. There's always been somewhat of a strained relationship between Kent State and the town of Kent that dates back to the shootings in 1970, and we tried to play on that somewhat in FINALS -- though we replaced the shootings with the even more dramatic homemade atomic bomb.)"
It was his experiences at Kent State that Pfeifer drew upon when writing FINALS. "Though none of my college buddies robbed convenience stores, made snuff films or built time machines, my time at Kent State was definitely the big inspiration for FINALS. College life is a step away from normal life, and I just exaggerated that a bit for the comic book. Knox State, the college in the comic, is essentially Kent State with a different name, and Jill drew many of the buildings based on the KSU campus -- which we were both familiar with. More than any specific incidents, I tried to get the general atmosphere of college across in FINALS. It's both incredibly laid-back and fairly high-pressure. You can do whatever you want, but what you do could affect the rest of your life. Plus, you know the real world is waiting for you the moment you pick up that diploma, so it's kind of like standing on a ledge -- you know, eventually, you're going to have to jump into the abyss."
A big part of the creative success of the series is Jill Thompson's art, which gives FINALS a realistic look while accentuating the more extreme scenes with a manic cartoonishness. However, Thompson's contribution to the story wasn't limited to just drawing. "As anyone who reads SCARY GODMOTHER knows, Jill's a very talented writer as well as being a hell of an artist. She and I shaped the concepts of FINALS together, and her sense of humor fit the series perfectly. Plus, besides having the viewpoint of someone who lived in a college town, she's also a woman (duh!), which helped me to write Nancy and Collette, the two female characters in FINALS." says Pfeifer of his longtime collaborator and friend.
The result of their collaboration is a work that was a few years before its time. FINALS is the kind of hip, quirky, slightly dark comedy that would be right at home at Oni Press nowadays. This is something Pfeifer acknowledges, and he states the story pushed the envelope even further in an earlier incarnation. "I do think FINALS might have been slightly ahead of the times. The comic-book scene has loosened up since 1999, when FINALS hit the stands, and the market seems more receptive to the sort of oddball, dark humor we were aiming for. Right before FINALS was released, the school massacre at Columbine happened, and Jill and I had to revise the first issue quickly. Originally, it opened with a student firing from the top of the school library. The joke is that he was working on his school project and was taking typical collegiate notes as he plugged the students on the ground. But when Columbine happened, no one wanted to joke about that, and we didn't want the opening scene to be the only thing in FINALS anyone focused on. So, with some encouragement from DC, we changed it to the more outlandish scene that appeared in print. I still slightly prefer the original, which I think fit in with the darker, more realistic tone of the series, but it wasn't a big deal to change, and the book still works for me. Now, however, maybe we could at least include the original pages if FINALS were ever reprinted or collected."
While recent cinematic entries in the campus comedy genre haven't exactly lit the moviegoing public on fire (PCU, DEAD MAN ON CAMPUS, VAN WILDER, anyone?), Pfeifer still has his eye towards a movie version and a definite opinion on where his creation stands in the college movie pantheon. "I always considered FINALS sort of an 'ANIMAL HOUSE' for the end of the century. I'm a big fan of that movie, and like the way it smartly mixes dark humor with goofy college hijinks. People remember the food fight and toga party, but I remember the Deathmobile the Deltas build and the reference to Neidermeyer being killed by his own troops in Vietnam. As far as a FINALS movie goes, I think it's a natural. Just take the latest bunch of hot teen stars, stick 'em on a set that looks like Knox State, and spend two hours having them accidentally kill each other off. What teen wouldn't want to see that? "
As to who Pfeifer thinks should direct that movie, "I think the perfect director -- in all seriousness, -- would be David Fincher. He's got an amazing visual sense, plus the obsessive eye for detail that bringing FINALS to life would require. When my brother Matt and I saw FIGHT CLUB on opening night back in 1999, it was right about the time the last issue of FINALS hit the stands. When the movie ended, my brother turned to me and said, 'That reminded me a lot of FINALS.'"
Currently the series has yet to be collected and those interested in reading it will have to track down the original issues. This is something that Pfeifer hopes will change, as he and Thompson have definite plans to revisit Knox State. "We'd love to see a collected edition of FINALS, but I don't know how likely that is. I think the rights do eventually revert to Jill and me, but I can't remember when off the top of my head. If and when they do, Jill and I would definitely like to do more with the series. We've got lots of ideas, and FINALS could go on indefinitely. Every few issues, just bring in a new class of students!"
FINALS is a great series and well worth the time and effort required to track it down. It is funny, original and even timelier now than it was when it was first released. If you like FINALS, then check out Jill Thompson's SCARY GODMOTHER from Sirius Comics. Also, Will Pfeifer let it slip that he has a new ongoing series coming out in 2003. Look for an announcement about it soon.
Thanks to www.milehighcomics.com for the issue covers.
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