Circles: a retrospective review
#2 of Reviews
A review of "Circles."
When I cracked the spine of Circles and began to read, the first impression it left me with was one of a story dislodged in time. I know when it was published and yet when I try to square that timeframe with the story itself, something doesn't click. This is not a criticism of the work: _Circles_ultimately is a hopeful story--honest and genuine hope--at a time when those were few and far between.
The initial 8 issue (plus issue #0) run of Circles ran from 2000 to 2008 by a combined team of Steve Domanski, Scott Fabianek, and Andrew French. At the end of this run, Fabianek, better known in the fandom as K-9, moved across the country to further his artistic career, which put a damper on further work, so the end of the story was instead released as an illustrated novel in 2015.
When I think of furry comics that started in the 90's a few names pop out to me immediately: funny and silly stories like Tank Vixens or Sabrina Online, adventurous tales like HAVOC, Inc. or Extinctioners, and the classic gay, college, slice-of-life story Associated Student Bodies. If I had to pick a theme to the stories of this era, it might be one of happy-go-luckiness. Even in the LGBT-themed stories--ASB in particular--there is a feeling of "Here's what life could be like, and wouldn't that be awesome?"
Focusing in on the late 00's and early 10's and the LGBT stories there, I get a sense of a more grounded realism. I'm thinking of comics like Fur-Piled or Red Lantern, novels like Kyell Gold's Waterways and Out of Position.
And in between were a tumultuous few years in America, especially LGBT America. September 11th, to start with, but also events like the legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, the 2004 election where gay rights became a major issue, Prop 8, and more. The tone in Hollywood shifted from uplifting and whimsical to grim and gritty. So I'm not surprised by the shift from the whimsy of the 90's furry stories I remember to the grounded realism of the late 00's and early 10's.
But Circles was there, in the midst of a number of upheavals, pushing back against the tide of dourness. It seems to say, "A better world is possible, if only we'll work towards it."
Circles, since I have avoided talking about the actual story for so long, is about the lives of a group of gay men rooming in 6 Kinsey Circle. (The address was perhaps the only pun in the book that really caused my eyes to roll.) The central character is arguably Paulie, an elderly British dog, now living in America and dealing with his AIDS diagnosis. He is the patron of the house and the bearer of good advice and friendship. His journal entries bookend many of the issues and provide an emotional uplift before and after. The next most central character is Marty, a chubby, college-bound skunk whose move into 6 Kinsey Circle starts the ball rolling on some story points while giving the reader a new-to-the-scene viewpoint character to empathize with. We see Marty fall in love, come out to his parents, struggle with being away from his boyfriend, and all the classic issues that come with being young and gay.
But each character living at number 6, and several more besides, gets a detailed personality and backstory to go with. There's Taye, Marty's actor boyfriend; Mrs. Nussbaum, the sweet, elderly neighbor; Carter Allen, the homophobic neighbor, and his wife and kids; Ken, the model running from his past; Doug, Paulie's lover; Jason, Doug's son by a former marriage; Arthur and John and Bo and Roger and so on.
Each issue usually focuses around a relationship conflict between two of the characters. One early issue has Doug and Arthur facing off, because Doug blames Arthur for Paulie contracting AIDS. When they come to verbal blows, Doug ends by suggesting how much easier things would have been if it had been Arthur getting sick instead of his own boyfriend. Paulie, in a moment of uncharacteristic rage, berates Doug and goes to comfort Arthur instead. After talking for a long time with Arthur and then returning to talk with Doug, Paulie, the archetypal fence-mender, manages to get Doug and Arthur to forgive each other and move on.
It's a recurring theme: all our problems can be solved if only we talk them out. Everything can be forgiven. Everything can be worked out. Everyone can be redeemed. We can do it.
(This isn't strictly true. There are a few characters who never get redeemed, such as Taye's former lover, Roger, or Ken's abusive boyfriend, Bo. It's one of the things I have to ding the story, which is normally so accepting and diverse, for, as Bo is also the only character to be involved in the leather and BDSM side of the LGBT community.)
As I read through the whole story, both comic collections and the novel, it struck me how the creators had taken on so many major conflicts that show up either within the LGBT community or between the LGBT community and rest of the world. The jealous ex? Check. The nosy neighbor? Check. Growing up in a homophobic community? Check. The first relationship that doesn't work? Check. Coming out to your parents? Check. Being shamed for not looking great? Check. All those things--we can take care of them if we take the time to talk them out.
So the story strikes an odd balance, teetering between idealism and naivety. I ultimately end up feeling that the story is more on the idealism side. Humor helps a lot: Marty's grandmother is a hoot, as is the way Doug is brought out of a funk by someone pointing out that he dared to let his spaghetti dinner be covered in--of all things--shelf-stable parmesan cheese powder. But there are also moments of pathos, that remind us enough that these are real issues that real people have really faced without diving into full-on realism. Perhaps my favorite of these more somber moments is when Ken is awaiting a phone call to hear if he has contracted any STDs: the call comes, and even though the diagnosis is that he is clean, the fear and worry cause Ken to break down in tears at what might have been.
But this is not to say the stories are without their problems. The biggest one is that early on it is hard to tell some characters apart. Fabianek's art style shifts slowly as the issues progress and the characters become more differentiated from one another and easier to recognize. Likewise the writing builds up their characters more than the blank slates so many of them are to begin with. The final volume, the novel, also suffers because its prose, while functional and simplistic, is too functional and simplistic for my tastes. The novel is also written as if the characters were all human, which sets up a few jarring moments.
Having now read it all, it's easy to see how Circles was so popular and why the story, its characters, and its art were omnipresent in the early 00's. It is and was something rather different from what surrounded it, and while I'm not sure yet how much I would consider it to be a good story, I can see exactly how it is the type of story some people need.
If you're looking for a hopeful, modern-day LGBT tale or a bit of furry history, you can pick up all three volumes of Circles from Rabbit Valley.