Set in 2001, Bee is a young Manhattanite working in a photo-processing shop (remember those?) and, among the usual hum-drum photos of birthday parties and babies, she comes across some lurid photos of recently deceased people. The Russian photographer who took them claims they are staged and not actual dead people but Bee's curiosity is piqued and she decides to follow him... with startling results! Part Tintin, part "Ghost World" in tone, Jason Little's "Shutterbug Follies" presents a whimsical version of New York City and introduces a charming protagonist in a strange odyssey of high art, gangsters and murder most foul.
While the story isn't as brilliant as his other Bee-featured book "Motel Art Improvement Service", "Shutterbug Follies" is a gently amusing romp with a colourful cast of characters. Little's strong plotting keeps the story ticking over nicely as Bee explores Manhattan as a kind of hipster Nancy Drew. Her pleasant and approachable attitude to life easily makes her friends with odd characters like a middle aged rocker moonlighting as a cabbie or an artist's assistant hiding from his tough guy neighbour after being caught photographing his wife (it's for art, honest!). The chance meetings with these minor characters send her in different directions but Little collects the disparate threads, masterfully tying them into a coherent story.
Little has a good sense of knowing when to let the pictures tell the story and when to insert dialogue. There are no narrative boxes so the reader has to interpret panels by looking at characters' faces and body language rather than rely on thought bubbles or an omnipresent narrative voice. It's very subtle, artistic and feels very naturalistic to read. The dialogue is convincingly real and the characterisations are fine with the standout being Bee of course as the lead. She looks, acts and behaves very much like an 18 year old New Yorker would.
The attractive art, well laid out panels and entertaining story makes "Shutterbug Follies" a fine comic book read. If you've got a choice, I'd strongly recommend his more recent book "Motel Art Improvement Service" which I feel is a more refined example of Little's narrative and artistic skill, but both books are worth picking up.
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