It seems that my Books section is going to stretch the definition of “book” to include graphic novels through this review of David Chelsea in Love. David’s story is too good to ignore, especially when I stumbled upon a copy at Half-Price Books this week. Besides, The Onion reviewed the 20th anniversary edition of The Watchmen so they’ve already put me on the slippery slope.
I used to own the original four issues of the comic book when it was published in 1992 but I gave them away to a coworker in North Carolina as a gift. I regretted that a bit since I have always talked about this comic for years. In 2003, Reed republished it as a trade paperback book with an updated epilogue from David!
Enough about the technical details about the book.
David Chelsea in Love is the true story of David’s life during the early Eighties and his tumultuous relationship with Minnie Maurier. At the beginning, David is living in New York, working as a lonely, struggling freelance illustrator. Most women there won’t even give him the time of day so he frequently returns to his hometown of Portland to date. During one such trip he meets Minnie and the emotional roller coaster begins. She is a disaster on two legs fueling David’s savior complex alongside his infatuation and desperation. While reading this story, you will be thanking all your exes for not being as horrible. She isn’t really a magnet for Mr. Wrong (or Right Now), Minnie just has a knack for seeking them out.
After their doomed relationship concludes, David sees other women but the aftermath of Minnie continues to punctuate his life until his epiphany. This is concluded by a civil conversation with Minnie in early 1986 as the book’s finale.
What I also loved about the story are the details happening in the background. These frame when the events in his life took place. For example, there are famous headlines of newspapers and he draws cameos of people in the East Village who became famous later (Madonna, Keith Haring, etc.). There are other hints you have to pay attention to or you’ll miss them. You probably need to read this several times to catch them all. In the original 1992-3 publication there was an epilogue of whatever became of him, Minnie, his sisters, etc. For the 2003 reprint, he updated it for all of the characters as of 2002 and included an introduction to frame the plot (but this may have been brought over in the mid Nineties reprint from the original publisher Eclipse).
This isn’t a book I’d allow anyone under 18 to see since the sexuality is rather graphic but it’s a critical part of the story. To me, the sex shows the emotional fragility of the characters. Most of it amplifies larger emotional problems, mainly David’s willingness to cling to Minnie with the foolish hope that she’ll eventually come to exclusively loving him. He also shows the audience his failings, flaws and misjudgments effectively and not some self-deprecating nonsense like the numerous autobiographies on the market today.
David Chelsea in Love may not be the most famous graphic novel around but it is a personal favorite since the author/illustrator tells his story amazingly through his art. I don’t feel he could’ve made the same point through words only. Maybe it could be translated into an R-rated movie now that special effects are cheaper through CGI, yet I fear Hollywood would whitewash this into some kind of Hilary Duff vehicle. One day I hope to at least write Mr. Chelsea a thank-you e-mail for this work.
In early 1997, I had an encounter with my version of Minnie but her name was Allison. Unlike Minnie, Allison displayed her emotional baggage pretty quickly (on our first date I recall) and parts of David Chelsea started playing through my memory amongst other warnings. I would say this story helped set off those alarms, put the gears in motion for me to do the right thing, and stop seeing her.