I’ve felt many things when reading and reviewing Drawing Blood. I’ve felt shades of secondhand embarrassment as Shane “Books” Bookman manages to bungle his way into catastrophe after catastrophe. I’ve felt heartache as he struggles with his inner demons, especially in the past two issues. I’ve even felt a sense of dread, especially with how the comic started. But throughout Drawing Blood #10, I felt a sense of unbridled joy throughout 99% of the issue.
That joy comes from the fact that Books is taking his proposed stage adaptation of Megalopolis and transforming it into an entirely new show, The Last Ragdoll. While David Avallone and Kevin Eastman haven’t shied away from the fact that Books’ experiences are somewhat based on Eastman’s life, it’s pretty clear to anyone who can put two and two together that this is homaging Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin. Ben Bishop even provides designs that are “The Last Ronin, but with mutated cats.”
In the wrong hands, this would be nothing more than a pale imitation of a far better work. Avallone takes the opposite direction and shows how Books throwing himself into The Last Ragdoll is the first truly creative thing he’s done in ages. Pure creation like that is a rare and wonderful thing; in fact, I’d argue that it’s the closest thing to a miracle out there. Even Books’ hallucinations of the Radically Rearranged Ronin Ragdolls have taken on a more positive tone, as he can speak to them as colleagues and less as ghosts from his past.
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At the same time, certain people may not understand your creativity or try to smother it in its metaphorical crib. This rears its head when Books attends the premiere of the Radically Rearranged Ronin Ragdolls movie, and speaks to a reporter; when he clarifies that it’s based on a comic, the reporter says, puzzled, “Comic…book?” It’s a moment that hits me deep in my soul, as I’ve been at Comic-Con panels with similar questions. Troy Little also gets to show off more of his brilliant caricatures as movie director Morgan Harbor is depicted as a snarling devil once news of The Last Ragdoll leaks.
The moment in Drawing Blood #10 that sticks out to me the most is a sentence that Books utters toward the end of the issue. “When you release anything into the world…it stops being yours. It belongs to the audience,” he says. That’s a double edged sword, as some fans will find a story that has a massive impact on their lives while others will act like they actually own the character. Here’s where we get into that 1% of dread, as the ending is both a reminder that not everyone will vibe with your creations – and a reminder that Books’ story is slated to end in tragedy.
Drawing Blood #10 is a joyful ode to the act of creation, and a calm before the storm. Here’s hoping that someone reads it and finds their own creative spark.
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