babybel wax bodysuit (2016)

published by retrofit comics / 20 pages / full colour

nominated for a 2017 Eisner Award in Best Single Issue/One-Shot

purchase: online / retrofit / amazon / diamond / through your local comic shop

In Babybel Wax Bodysuit, cartoonist Eric Kostiuk Williams presents a collection of short stories delving into self-worth, Internet culture, and the fascinating grotesqueries offered up by our science-fiction present, all rendered in what curator Luis Jacob ("Form Follows Fiction: Art and Artists in Toronto") has referred to as a "unique visual style, narrated in a fabulous spirit of liquid intelligence."

In this issue: our author, as a closeted teen, navigates comic book message boards and befriends a Pentecostal Christian! Keith Haring fights off gentrification in the 1980's East Village! A familiar pop star breaks free of her Las Vegas promoters, one hundred years in the future! And more...

PRAISE:

"Williams’ art style is psychedelic and unconventional, with layouts that swirl and bleed together in ways that are as expressive as they are experimental. His vibrant colors energize his linework and heighten the surrealism of his compositions. [...] All the comics tie together very nicely in this book, making it an especially cohesive read." - The AV Club

"'We’re livin’ in a science-fiction present, kiddos!' Williams warns us, and his tales of self-commodification vs. defense of self-identity, along with illustrations of KKK members astride a Trump-headed cockroach, couldn’t be more apt." - Lambda Literary

"Williams mixes politics, aesthetics, philosophical concept and his own hard-won wisdom in an ambitious stew that is distinctive in terms of its component parts being discernible but also forming something greater and more original than the simple sum of those parts. He does this with a supple line and a skill with both line and color that is already quite formidable." - High-Low Comics

"The end result is a comic that’s an absolute joy to both read as well as look at, and one that you’ll no doubt re-visit again and again over the years." - Daily Grindhouse

"The comics in Babybel Wax Bodysuit jump off the page.  Inventive, layered, colorful and complex, the seven short comics pieces that make up this 24 page compendium tackle a variety of pop culture icons and demonstrate how they can be – and are – integrated into personal identity; simultaneously demonstrating the deconstructive abilities and savvy of their creator.  Enjoyable, entertaining and educational, all at once." - Copacetic Comics Company