Let Us Be Perfectly Clear (Forlorn Funnies Collection) by Paul Hornschemeier

Let Us Be Perfectly Clear (Forlorn Funnies Collection) Reviews

• 
  S̶e̶a̶n̶

  Perfectly Clear collects various short strips, most of which I found to be just okay (3 stars). Let Us Be includes several longer, more developed stories of an overall stronger caliber (4 stars). I liked the flip book presentation, but the design elements didn't add much to the general appeal for me. I recall having a similar reaction to Hornschemeier's
  The Three Paradoxes, which also excels in the 'book as art object' category, but does not deliver the same level of depth I was hoping for in terms of content.
• 
  Jamie Felton

  I wish I could have changed the order I read Hornschemeier's stuff into this order:
  First - Let Us Be Perfectly Clear
  Second - The Three Paradoxes
  Third - Mother, Come Home
  This is ideal (for me) because I would have started with his shorter, less epic work and progressed into his beautifully written and drawn Mother, Come Home.
  Instead I read his stuff like this:
  First - Mother, Come Home
  Second - The Three Paradoxes
  Third - Let Us Be Perfectly Clear
  
  So, while I thought it had merit, Let Us Be...wasn't the note I wanted to end on.
• 
  David Schwan

  A collection of short pieces. There are two books bound together, you need to flip the book to read either half. in the side "Let us be" there is a very existential story about a robot lost in the desert which is quite nice. In the other half (Perfectly Clear) there is a confusing story about a couple and their relationship.
• 
  Never

  Incredible illustration, really neat layouts, hit-and-miss stories.
• 
  Hardtravelinghero

  Hornschemeier's "Mother Come Home" stood out to me. I don't know if that's why I chose this book, or if the variety seemed interesting while flipping through the pages. I can't tell what the auteur thinks of relationships, if we're to take much of this work seriously, or if he's simply playing with ideas to see where they go. Some of this work is certainly musings on art, art comics, critics, and philosophy. The first story, "The Trespassing Vehicles," has an indie movie feel, as we witness a double murder that ----, and where it seems the couple will be unhappy whatever happens to them. I could imagine someone such as Tilda Swinton narrating the story in a "Stranger Than Fiction" sort of way. "Underneath" has such neat creatures and the coloring fits this weird little story of an arctic and underwater biome. "We Were Not Made for This World" features a robot seeking a world beyond what it knew for most of its existence. I imagine one could identify with the robot and its journey. "Return of the Elephant" is the story that caused much discomfort. While it's possible the story isn't as creepy and transgressive as it seems, Hornschemeier gives enough detail to lead us toward what might be the worst case scenario. Does my interpretation of the story say more about me and my outlook on humanity, or is the auteur aiming for this particular result? I wonder what others' interpretations of this story are. And just like that, the first half of this flipbook comes to a conclusion--what a mind fuck. Flipping to the other side, "America, Your Boyfriend" is a sadly hilarious critique of American foreign and domestic policies. "The World Will Never Be the Same" reflects the static quality of people not giving a shit, stuck in their small perspectives, with small hearts, with perhaps some flavoring of cognitive dissonance. The highlight of my experience with this book is "Men and Women of the Television," specifically "The Bad Man" portion, in which the dialogue of the mustachioed villain is fucking hilarious. I'm reminded of the crooked Hedley Lamarr in "Blazing Saddles," with his over the top language. He's so erudite and self-aware and can't break out of his patterns despite this awareness, and thus comes off as such a prick.
  
  PS: This "review" is mostly for my own reference, but if you find it useful, hoorah!
• 
  Rick Ray

  I like Paul Hornschemeier's approach to comics since everything I've read by him comes across as someone trying to tell as authentic of a story as possible. His other works I've read like "Mother Come Home" and "Three Paradoxes" were strong entries as he was able to translate experiences into the medium readily. This book collects a bunch of strips that are evocative of similar ideas explored in Hornschemeier's lengthier works, but since they are rather brief in their telling the stories don't all quite have much impact to them. It's still an enjoyable collection as a whole, but not much really stood out to me as I read through this. A good way to sample his work I'm sure, but he's made stronger contributions with other books for sure.
• 
  Kirk

  I keep fluctuating between 3-stars and 4-stars.
  
  The drawing is varied in inventive ways at times. Some of
  The stories were interesting. Some seemed like half-finished bits that were just thrown into a book.
  
  I did not read the robot story because the cursive was hard to read.
  
  I guess the bottom line is the art was cool and you can see this author/artist growing into something really awesome, of Chris Ware caliber maybe. But the writing needs a bit of work.
• 
  Andrew Barnett

  I get that these stories are intentionally odd, and that it is a compilation and therefore the works did not originally go together, but these pieces don't mesh at all, and are not solid enough in any sense to stand on their own. I felt odd while reading and after. There are a lot of graphic novels worth reading. This one is not one of them.
• 
  Kelly

  This was a compilation of the author's works. Hornschemeier is a gifted artist without doubt. But this book (again, I realize that it was a compilation, a sampling) felt very disjointed.
• 
  Beverly

  Weird and morose, especially the Let Us Be section. But great. Hornschmeier is the most existential of the three famous Chicago cartoonists. And he is great.
• 
  Matt

  I don’t. I do.
• 
  Ademption

  Paul Hornschemeier's second strongest book after
  Mother, Come Home. Hornschemeier works best in short, interlinked comics, which wholly comprise this anthology volume, where his illustration and clever transitions are showcased but do not overwhelm longer narratives. Also, he does better work with purely fictional comics, whether long or short. When he tries long-form memoirs, like
  The Three Paradoxes, the result is dull navel-gazing. So what if young Paul Hornschemeier got into a fight once, and almost had sex-- who cares?
  
  I enjoyed this collection of comics, and the tragic Mother, Come Home. I look forward to more of this sort of work from him.
• 
  James

  Let Us Be Perfectly Clear: you need this book.
  
  It's nothing short of brilliant. In fact, I'm willing to go out on a limb and say that I actually think that Horschemeier's experimental forays are qualitatively better than his illustrious predecessor's, Art Spiegelman. By which I mean: yes, Spiegelman was an innovator with the form, but once in a while you felt he was just going through the motions. Whereas young PH seems more driven to tell different kinds of stories in as many different alterations to "the norm" as it will take for him to get his story through to you, the reader.
  
  That made more sense just now when I composed it in my head than it does now that I'm reading what I just typed. Probably should never review books after ten at night.
  
  Anyway, to quote my own standard line here: run right out and buy the damned thing now.
• 
  Nuno

  Book comprised in two parts containing small stories (the book flips upside down in the middle).
  Part one, "Let's Us Be", is awesome both graphically and story wise. The robot story is genius. But there are other surreal, fantastic, weird stories here.
  Part two, "Perfectly Clear", is the humorous part, but too experimental and inconclusive. I didn't find it particularly funny or interesting, it retains the same surreal elements of part one, some darker than others, but left me more with a surprise felling than a smile or a chuckle. Some stories even look unfinished, although they aren't.
  
  If I was to rate part two alone I probably would give it a 2, but for part 1 I definitely have to rate it with a full 5, and just for that part I'm happy with the book.
• 
  Brad

  Before opening this book, I only knew Paul Horn… er, Hornscheimeier’s name because he works in the same studio as Jeffrey Brown, whose raw, autobiographical and satirical comics I really enjoy. Hornscheimer’s a completely different story. This collection of 1-6 page strips has beautiful artwork with varying levels of detail (much like The Perry Bible Fellowship) that alternate between quick gags and more meditative pieces.
  I have to find more of Hornscheimeier’s work—I already have “Mother, Come Home” checked out from my library.
• 
  Emma

  This feels less mature narratively than The Three Paradoxes. His drawings, design and colouring are just beautiful, but it's gratuitously experimental (which is fine, but less measured). There's a metacomic in there about the supposed pretentiousness of his work, which I read early on, and then all the way through I kept thinking about pretentiousness, which didn't help. A bit like watching a whole lot of music videos instead of a feature film; but maybe I'm being too conservative. I think I just prefer a longer form. Three Paradoxes I loved, I'll have to try Mother, Come Home.
• 
  Emilia P

  this book splits in the middle, reading right side up to the middle from either side. I really enjoyed the "Let Us Be" side as it had a good ratio of text to image, but I turned it over to the "Perfectly Clear" side and really thought it stunk.
  I might have a problem with full pages of esoteric text in what appears to be a comic book.
  
  Oh well. I like color comics about made up monsters at the very least. Yep.
  
  
• 
  Jay

  I loved this book. Paul Hornschemeier is one of the most thoughtful and creative illustrators I've read. He does more than put pencil to paper to see where the story takes him. The one-to-twenty pages shorts that are collected in this book are extremely well-planned and drawn in various styles that appear effortless, almost like a cartoonist version of Michel Gondry.
  
  More, Paul. More.
• 
  Earline

  I picked up this book because it looked like a Chris Ware knock off... and it was. I love the art and the variety of genres in this collection and was excited to learn Hornschemeier was from Cincinnati and went to Ohio State. I also saw some of his work from Mother, Come Home in the Weight of the World exhibition at DAAP. I will probably check out some of his other books in the future.
• 
  Allie

  Definitely a strange read. Read in one direction, half the book was Let Us Be and read from the other side it is Perfectly Clear. The comics in the Perfectly Clear section were more to my liking, especially Feelings Check, Whatever Dude, Vanderbilt Millions is a Mental Case, and (of course) Men and Women of the Television.
• 
  Dave Schaafsma

  Comics. He dedicates this to his parents who gave him the gift of Gahan Wilson, who is better this artist, but you can see him going for the bizarro tone of Wilson in many places. It's likable, worth a few laughs, and sufficiently alternative and out there to attract for those reasons.
• 
  StrictlySequential

  Psychology major really shows its effects throughout- half or more of the stories have no ending leaving you to ponder and consider. I do that with my own things but read books to get the whole story.
• 
  J Chris Campbell

  This book collects some of my favorite work with lots of innovative techniques. Along with… gasp, humor!
• 
  Alando

  This is the book that got me back into comics. I love the bold 'don't give a fuck' attitude with which he writes. Gold.
• 
  Mike

  This book was great. Hornschemeier's inability to settle on a style really worked for him here--unlike the last book of his that I read. This collection had a joyful schizophrenia about it.
• 
  jenna Hudrlik

  some were 5 star stories, some needed to be longer and some i didn't care for at all - therefore i averaged out the stars in my mind and give it 3
• 
  Ill D

  Wholly experimental and saturated in existentialism. Reminds me a lot of the Daniel Clowes canon. Constantly engaging and always unpredictable. Highly recomended and very enjoyable.
• 
  Andie Nash

  Really love Hornschemeier and his funny, thoughtful, existentialist comics. I want to track down more of his collections!