Review: Runx #1

Matt Runkle’s self-published effort Runx¹ is a wonderful collection of short pieces on various subjects, including love, work, and marriage.
Runkle has a strong, humorous point of view and a variety of art styles, which blend together to paint the portrait of an opinionated guy, and I mean that in the best possible way.

Love...

His take on marriage, for example, shows us that straight marriage would not be much fun without gay contributions. That does sound like a cliché (I certainly have no qualifications for bouquet arrangements or bridal gown styles), but Runkle uses his own experiences as a caterer (what’s with gay caterers, anyway?) to make us laugh–a lot–and think–a little.
You’ll also find an account of his other jobs (see the image on the right) as well as a fascinating trip to a small Idaho town where his family lives, with Runkle willing to take people on their own terms, not an easy task it must be said.
The cutest sequence is the description of his lovers, one type each (the Country Boy, the Pretty Boy…), and why he loved them–or was “obsessed” by them, as he says himself. It was closer in tone to something out of David Kelly than the cynical, and very funny panels by Michael Fahy.

...and work

The most accomplished piece, in my opinion, is the last one, recounting a summer passed in a friend’s cabin near Portland, enjoying the river, the sun, and obviously also the sex. In three pages, Runkle also manages to tell us about the gentrification of Portland and about the invasion of a secluded, forest place by vacationers. And about racoons living under the floor of the cabin. In fact, in three, short pages, it seems the passage of time, life, and change, is neatly summed up. A good, effective piece to conclude the first issue of Runx.