WHAT IS ONE TIME PRESS?
An artistic outlet, a dream in the making, a voice, art therapy, a much needed vacation,a reassuring shoulder to lean on, mass produced fine art, self-reflective exercise, collaborative brainstorming, misunderstood for being a ONE TIME contender.
About the book
LaRiccia makes his comics debut with his 96 page graphic novel. Black Mane confronts issues of race and gender through the authors self-depracating self-portrait. The story is set in Boston Massachusetts during a summer break from graduate school in the midwest. LaRiccia works at a T-shirt stand on the waterfront and lives in an apartment in Brookline. The banality of his life is contrasted with the consistent presence of volatile male characters: Hyper testosterone jocks, chauvinistic abusers and entitled alpha males.
In public Michael deals with these figures through contemplation and reason; in his most private thoughts he revels in the fantasy of resolving these situations with the immediacy and energy of violence. This resolve is accomplished by his own fantasy hitman, Black Mane, a man/lion hybrid cloaked in midnight black fur.
His frustration and confusion accumulate even more from the constant presence of racial characterization. Horrifically hot summer days at the waterfront, a camping trip with old friends, a fantasy dream in ancient Greece and a dangerous night in a night club are some of the scenarios which challenge the ideas and values of the main character.
Black Mane incorporates the social potential of comic books to address immediately important social issues. Humor and horror combine to construct a conversation about social constructs of masculinity and the constant presence of racial characterization.
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