The story was certainly nonconformist, though in a sick turn of irony the character Jimmy seems to be of such despairing conformity that he himself has little to no opinion of his own; Utterly dependent on social constructs and industrial monoliths to dictate his life.
this is the conclusion I've come to after much inspection and after thought. When first introduced you read this character's panels and the first thing that comes to mind is: "Is this character mentally retarded? Am I supposed to feel sad for him? Is there a happy ending? The title is suddenly perceived with new found meaning; and tone upon this realization.
Taken as it is, at face value the plot and the character are found wanting and unsatisfactorily inconclusive in any apparent manner.
However: for some who are versed in art forms and dialectics, suhc a design and consistent standard is not without conscious decision in part by the artist, thus I initiated a closer inspection of the work; whereas I find an obscure clue amongst the typographic substance of the cover. There is a depiction of a rather large clam and a pearl with Jimmy's face on it, and upon this pearl there lies a block of text which reads: "La perla de la industria." Interestingly enough, I wouldn't have caught this had I not known Spanish. In translation: "The pearl of the industry", provided me with mt first hint of the tip of an metaphorical iceberg that had been, prior to the discovery of this "hidden pearl"(perhaps even an intentional irony in it's presentation as such) had been invisible to me.
The work under such a spotlight suddenly changes shape once more as a metaphor for industry and society that dictates conformity and rejects individuality. Our world is one of government enabled social constructs, and the potential for such modern components can be of a tragic nature.
People cannot imagine a world without the constructs that exists without the television telling them where to go, the turn signals telling them when to go, and industry telling them what to think. Invariably, the result is an empty husk of a person, unable to imagine how they could have opinions or thought that differ from others.
Certainly, this may not be the extent of the nature of the work, but it is yet another layer of complexity to a grand work.
Other notable aspect so the treatment include the depiction of the black girl without the use of strong stereotyping or generalization.
The use of systematic charts to describe the interrelationships and background story is
worthy of note from a graphic design standpoint. Visual graphics for representing data are becoming frequently commonplace, and my own interested in such displays has become something of a centerpiece in my personal studies.
I immediately noticed the correlative flow-chart concerning Jimmy's family's back story. It was well rendered and made connections quit clear with representational arrows flowing in and out between panels.
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