Mesmo Delivery
Published by: Dark Horse – 2010
Written and Illustrated by: Raphael Grampa
Originally self-published in 2008, then reprinted by Dark Horse in 2010, Mesmo Delivery—Raphael Grampa’s fifty-two-page first foray into comics as both writer and artist—is not for the faint of heart or the squeamish and may traumatize those with a weak constitution. That having been said, its execution is masterful. It has but the merest plot necessary to justify a gruesome bloodbath, and that bloodbath is simply to justify inventive scenes of balletic violence.
Grampa’s character designs are likewise iconic—drawing upon both archetype and such inspirations as Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash—and his incorporation of text into the page composition is further evidence of his highly refined design sense.
The art in Mesmo Delivery is a wonderful amalgamation of Jeff Smith and Paul Pope—whom I’ve always maintained shared certain stylistic similarities to begin with, though no one would confuse the two—but Grampa injects his own highly developed sense of design, attention to detail, and creative use of camera angles which in film would be either impossible to execute with standard equipment or would require a special-effects expert to circumvent such limitations. That is one of the things that makes comics great—what amazing feats can be accomplished by one man with a pen.
The story is this: two men riding in a semi-truck, making a mysterious delivery, stop at a truck-stop/gas station for a drink and become quickly embroiled in a street fight, during which—through a few minimalist flashbacks—the nature of the mysterious cargo is made clear though never stated out loud. That’s it. That’s the whole story. But, despite such a simple premise, one finishes the comic hungry for more—more Mesmo Delivery, more of the characters, more of Raphael Grampa.
Those of you wanting more don’t have many options, but might (or might not) want to take a look at issue number one of Marvel’s reboot of a much older anthology series, Strange Tales II, from 2010. The cover features Grampa’s take on classic Marvel characters like Wolverine, the Hulk, Spider-Man, Thor, and Captain America. The first story in the comic is Grampa’s: another eight-pages of a gruesome bloodbath, this time featuring Wolverine and Deadpool and, in smaller roles, Sabretooth and Wild Child, reimagined as professional brutalists gouging and goring one another for the sick pleasure of a bloodthirsty audience, like professional wrestling taken to a logical extreme, where it is no longer “fake.” Their respective abilities to heal from almost any wound makes them the perfect pugilists, because nothing must remain off limits. As tame as this premise may seem, it gets worse: the narration spells out a perverse, extreme, violent, sadomasochistic sex-life that transpires between Wolverine and his female sex-partner. The events depicted and implied are so disturbing that, frankly, even someone able to look-the-other-way on Mesmo Delivery’s violence may find it hard to stomach—the fact it is published by Marvel and features everyone’s favorite mutant makes it extra unexpected.
At this point it is probably fairly obvious to say that Mesmo Delivery and Grampa’s contribution to Strange Tales II are for mature audiences only, but I felt it needed to be reiterated. Read at your own risk.
Recommendations:
Anyone wanting more beautiful art of a similar kind, but tired of the ultraviolence, should check out Paul Pope’s 100% (One-Hundred Percent) and Heavy Liquid. These works have certain of the balletic movement of Grampa, but are looser and freer in their depiction—focusing less on tight rendering and more on the paintbrush and ink as a “live” medium. 100% features a story of love and art, whereas Heavy Liquid is essentially a chase where multiple factions pursue a young man for something in his possession.
On the other end of the Grampa art-spectrum is RASL by Jeff Smith—better known for his all-ages masterpiece Bone. RASL is for a more mature audience than Bone but, compared to Grampa’s oeuvre, is practically Sesame Street. It has none of Grampa’s violence and perversity—less even than Pope’s work which can sometimes tend toward the sexual—and follows a dimension-hopping art thief as his plans increasingly go awry. The story is refreshingly free of violence but remains mature enough to be entertaining for an adult audience.
Brian Bigelow
September 20, 2017
