Stuck Rubber Baby

by Howard Cruse

Book Overview

Painstakingly researched and exquisitely illustrated, Stuck Rubber Baby is a groundbreaking graphic novel that draws on Howard Cruse's experience coming of age and coming out in 1960s Birmingham,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1563892162
• ISBN13: 9781563892165
• Release Date: September 1995
• Publisher: DC Comics
• Length: 210 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 7.1" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Expected light, throwaway reading

I feel compelled to tell the truth: I have never read a "graphic" novel before. I figured that I would order this one and I would "skim" it without having to pay a lot of attention. WRONG. It obviously has a dense plot that needs the reader to pay attention. But the combination of very "busy" graphics and a serious plot left me with a headache. I guess I like to read a book and "see" the characters in my head, as opposed to having them drawn out for me. From the other reviews, this is a great graphic novel, so ignore my review unless you are also a virgin to "graphic" novels.

Warm, humane, and sometimes heartbreaking

Not all graphic novels live up to the "novel" part of that label, but "Stuck Rubber Baby" is an exception. Its tale of a young gay man coming of age in the 1960s South, while also becoming involved in the civil rights movement, has all the richness & detail of a good novel. Even better, it never succumbs to preachiness, never becomes heavy-handed. Everyone has foibles & flaws, and even the more benighted, bigoted characters are three-dimensional human beings. So the regrettable accusation of a previous reviewer that this is nothing more than "gay rights propaganda" falls flat. I don't know how much of this story is autobiographical in nature, but it certainly feels that way. [Edit: And I see that Richard De Angelis' fine review confirms this.] Memory plays an important part here, recreating & exploring another time & place, one that's gone by in many ways. Yet as William Faulkner once said, "The past is not dead. It's not even past." The sense of living with the ghosts of previous decades is very strong. Impulsive actions have consequences, some of which live on & shape the unwritten course of the characters' adult lives. The art may not be for everyone, but it works beautifully for me. The cheerful, slightly exaggerated cartooniness really brings these people to life as individuals, rather than as stock figures. No impossibly idealized bodies & faces to be found here! Which is all to the good, as the emphasis is on ordinary people ... well, like us. In fact it's very easy to identify with young Toland Polk, whether you're gay or straight. He's a likeable, sympathetic guy - not overly noble, not entirely sure of himself, prone to make stupid mistakes at times -- in other words, quite embracingly human. I'm glad to see that this story is coming back into print, and in a hardcover edition, no less. Graphic novels like "Maus" & "Blankets" (for instance) are deservedly praised, but "Stuck Rubber Baby" seems to have flown under the radar of a lot of readers & critics. Maybe this new printing will help correct that at last. For me, it's a story that holds up over many re-readings -- most highly recommended!

The Great American Graphic Novel

A sweeping and delicately-etched coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of the civil rights movement in the Deep South, "Stuck Rubber Baby" raised the bar for what the graphic novel could do. Howard Cruse's short-form comics ("Barefootz," "Wendel") were smart, funny, and often thought-provoking, but barely prepared readers for the depths and daring of this richly fascinating work. Don't let the whole "comic book" thing scare you off, this is a smart, three-dimensional semi-memoir. Very highly recommended.

Terrific storytelling

The average snoot wouldn't come within a mile of this book, for reasons which seem perfectly reasonable to snoots and are therefore entirely stupid.Some might react with horror to the curviness of the characters, which is in fact a strength of the story. The people who populate _Stuck Rubber Baby_ do not share the perfection (or carefully controlled imperfection) of characters from other graphic novels. They are pudgy, fat, even unattractive. This is not a defect of the artwork; it is an essential feature. Real people do not have perfect bodies or souls, and this story is, above all else, very real -- almost distressingly so.Cruse does not fall into the too-easy trap of sanctifying his protagonists. The modern trend of antihero storytelling might make this sound less significant, but given the topics Cruse is handling, this is truly an accomplishment. All of them are ordinary people, who can (and do) make significant mistakes. Some of them recover from their errors, others do not... but everyone emerges significantly changed. _Stuck Rubber Baby_ puts a convincing human face on an era that transformed America, and deserves a place on any well-stocked shelf.

A Deeply Affecting Graphic Novel

Howard Cruse has achieved something few storytellers do: he has spun a tale of right versus wrong without losing his powerful message to righteous anger. He explores the central issues of racism and homophobia from an unsettling, yet fresh, viewpoint. Young adults today can too easily forget that 30 years ago in the South, acceptance of non- whites as equals was largely viewed as optional, and public acceptance of homosexuals was rare indeed. Cruse confronts the reader with these former realities, the indignities visited on blacks and gays, to remind us of how far we've come and to stand firm against the complacency that could allow a backslide. The characters in _Stuck Rubber Baby_ are well-developed, including those who do not, by their actions, earn kinship with the reader. Even though Cruse introduces legions of characters, none of them seem extraneous; in fact, they serve to lend insight into the town's warring factions. Through the telling of his story, the protagonist reveals numerous slights and outright acts of violence that could have soured him on humanity for a lifetime. He retains a message of hope, though, and doesn't overlook the good times. That seems to be Cruse's message: one of inspiration, not bitterness