Defeat it, Rufus
cartoonist: Noah van Sciver
Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
Publication date: March 2025
Throughout his career, Noah van Sciver Stand out through storytelling acumen and as a keen inspector of human fragility. His ability to reveal humanity is a characteristic of his works and marks his artistic development. The titular protagonist of the Fante Bukowski series is a loout of any other name, surprisingly gentle and understanding, despite yelling Passersby reading his (not that good) poem.
Finding a pleasing commitment in objection is a challenge to the author, as an exercise, and a compelling task for readers to know themselves among those weird or too weird people they might have written off. Moreover, since Van Sciver’s approach to storytelling rejects simple moral binary files and favors subtle psychological portraits, he invites readers to consider general emotional and survival concerns even in a socially dubious context.
These are all excuses to discuss Van Sciver’s latest graphic novel Defeat it, Rufusanother solid entry in his vast example. It is a comic that follows some familiar narrative areas while simultaneously having a profound meditation on failure, self-deception and ruthless time. Of course, Rufus’s story is marked by the tragedy of time. We first meet Rufus performing for independent or confused audiences in a small dive, where his outdated style and character are confused rather than passionate.
Despite his former bandmate’s death decades ago and despite the boring venue, Rufus struggles to pursue his dream of rock star (uncollected royalties) as if it’s still the 80s. Despite repeated failures and a lifestyle that left him unemployed, Rufus maintained a delusional optimism about his prospects
This comic subtly subverts the classic redemption story best embodied by Dickens’s Ebenezer Scrooge. Rufus declares: “I can always start over. I can change the course. Have you ever heard of Ebenezer Skruger?” But while his book has supernatural directions that put him on the path of redemption, Rufus leaves behind a psychedelic dream world full of visual allusions and the weight of his own failure, trapped in a purgatory of existence that achievement will forever deprive him of survival. This reversal of typical redemption clichés provides an interesting tension that moves work beyond simple mockery into a deeper study of human limitations. Unlike Scrooge, Scrooge is guided by the Phantom of Phantom, and Rufus is not guided like this. His journey is not a journey of radiation rebirth, but one of a poignant decline: individual, art or culture. Van Sciver resisted Maudlin and chose to create a character study that questioned our cultural fascination with reinvention and second chances.
The artistic presentation of “Beat It, Rufus” shows the peak of Van Sciver. His complex cartoons become more subtle and precise in each book, with rich texture, reflecting the protagonist’s[psychological journey]and each group reflects Rufus’ layered, turbulent and burdened past. Noah’s coloring style is very obvious, with a lively color scheme that adapts to Rufus’ emotional fluctuations – from soft moments to light, bright colors in his more unstable stages.[psychologicaljourneywiththepanelreflectingRufus’layeredtumultuousandburdenedpastNoah’scoloringstyleisstrikinglyapparentempiryingalivelycolorchemethatadaptstoRufus’semotionalfluctuations—transitioningfromtheubduedtonesinclearmomentstointensevibrantcolorssofademonicellscapeduringhismoreerraticphases[心理旅程，每個小組都反映了Rufus的分層，動盪和負擔重的過去。諾亞（Noah）的著色風格非常明顯，採用了一種活潑的配色方案，可適應魯弗斯（Rufus）的情感波動-從柔和的時刻到淡淡，鮮豔的色彩在他更不穩定的階段中的強烈，鮮豔的色彩。[psychologicaljourneywitheachpanelreflectingRufus’layeredtumultuousandburdenedpastNoah’scoloringstyleisstrikinglyapparentemployingalivelycolorschemethatadaptstoRufus’semotionalfluctuations—transitioningfromsubduedtonesinclearmomentstointensevibrantcolorsofademonichellscapeduringhismoreerraticphases
Visual allusions are obvious, but by no means imitation. If Van Sciver’s study of survival horror calls for underground comics in his mind, he avoids the bloody surplus to a more restrained, refined approach has become his signature. From horror to slack despair, Rufuss’s face is outlined with loose accuracy (no contradictions there), effectively capturing the character’s internal turmoil without falling into the comics. This more complex speech gives Rufus a more serious flaw in the three-dimensional role rather than strict symbolic anxiety, providing some correct feeling and recognizability to the emotional core of the book.
Also worth noting is Van Sciver’s handwriting. The text is far from merely a function, but an extension of the psychology scattered by Rufus, which is messy during the outbreak, softened in the moments of failure. This attention to print details creates a visual rhythm that enhances the emotional impact of each scene, binding art and narrative into a seamless whole.
In addition to their personality research, Defeat it, Rufus Engage in a wider range of culturally obsolete/insignificant themes and artistic inertia. Rufus is not only a failed musician, but a Synecdoche of the past: the guitar Slinger cannot or is unwilling to adapt to changing tastes. The consequences of his struggle undoubtedly reflect a larger cultural trend of mythology of the greatness of the past rather than facing reality, an era of obsessed with nostalgia and revival, a theme that resonates particularly.
After he rigorously studied historical papers Joseph Smith and the MormonsVan Sciver’s return to comedy shows that he is a versatile artist and storyteller. A small-scale nature of intimacy Rufus He was allowed to distil his strong survival problems into a strong personal narrative, thus creating a story unique to his own life and is universally applicable. “Beat it, rufus” is a natural extension of the theme of van Sciver Fante BukowskiBoth work addressed delusions and frustrations about unfulfilled artistic hopes.
In Rufus, Van Sciver is not that surprisingly creating a character of surprising depth and complexity: an aging hairdresser whose stubborn refusal to give up his long-term desire is simultaneously hysterical, painful, painful and deep human.
Unlike the moral story of Dickens’s fusion, Van Sciver does not offer an easy solution or an exciting ending. He challenges readers to embrace this discomfort to wander among Rufus’ misleading beliefs and shortcomings and face things that feel too relevant. This rejection of simple emotions, coupled with serious sympathy for human vulnerability, enhances the Defeat it, Rufus Beyond entertainment. It forces readers to confront the harsh reality of life and the cozy novels of the transformations we often insist on.
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