Let's say nice things about Dylan Meconis





Young cartoonists, even good ones, often stumble into easy devices: style-aping, navel-gazing, "whimsy"-forcing and, dear God, jokes about TV and video games.

So what to make of Dylan Meconis, who at the tender age of 17 started writing and drawing "Bite Me!"? It's a hugely entertaining webcomic that goofs on overheated vampire fiction -- but also manages to weave in period detail from the French Revolution, absurd social commentary, wide-ranging wordplay, sophisticated slapstick and comic timing that would make Chuck Jones burst into wide wales of smirking.

What business, I ask, does a barely postadolescent person have writing a story this literate and entertaining -- a story that sent my teenage stepdaughter into giggling fits as she read the comic from start to finish in one sitting?

If Dylan's writing what she knows, I'm slightly terrified by the contents of her head. And I can't wait to see what she does next.

Oh, hey -- I don't have to wait!

Dylan just quietly launched "Family Man" -- a sorta-prequel to "Bite Me!" that charts the youthful angst of German-Jewish wolfman Luther Levy. It updates weekly.

I've seen a few pages beyond this prologue, BTW, and they're gorgeous. Dylan's breaking new ground as an artist here -- and I think "Bite Me!" fans will be pleasantly surprised by the more mature, sophisticated tone of the story.

(Would you like to know more? You can read a great interview with Meconis right here.)

Family Man

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Posted: Fri - March 3, 2006 at 01:28 PM        

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