This book consists of five linocut narratives by the Croatian artist Miroslav Nemeth, originally published in Gobshite Quarterly.
In "The Roman Key," light, lighthearted, fanciful, spare and surreal two-part drawings tell the tale of Nemeth's search for the key to "Roma," the city or a girl. Roma's ambiguity is playful and charming, as are his rhymes.
With complex, expressionist linocuts, "I Had a Dog" illustrates the tale of Nemeth's pet Afghan hound who "behaved like a king." The neighborhood is enchanted with the dog's gentleness. Then the dog becomes inexplicably aggressive, first biting Nemeth, then biting anyone who provokes him by walking along the fence.
"The Hood" is a complex visual description of parts of Nemeth's childhood. The view from his shared bedroom window, happy and welcoming, optimistic; his older brother becoming a "Tito Pioneer," Nemeth given a small flag; Nemeth going to school, the school starkly, darkly pyramidal, untrustworthy, as he walks to it with the other children; an eerily welcoming church as he discovers God; the walk home from school, the cross on the traffic island reminding him that the church is still there.
"A Smell from a Nose" expands the description of Nemeth's childhood. Holidays and soccer and the sea add to his joy, though the cross on the traffic island remains. As he becomes a teenager the family moves to a house near the city graveyard; he sees a chicken killed and the fragility of life, returns home and becomes almost housebound.
"Metaphysics in the Yard," is also set in the world of childhood. Jagged panes/perspectives irrupt into each other, collide on the page, while the tale considers clashing viewpoints about fear and self-recognition.
Nemeth and his father are in the garden; Nemeth sees an ugly bug and wants it killed. His father picks the bug up. It begs for its life, grows huge, and leaves him unrecognizable.
Anusauskaite, Migle: - Migle Anusauskaite, linguist & penslinger who works at Judaikos tyrimų centras, part of Lietuvos nacionaline Martyno Mazvydo biblioteka. & who has been profiled in New Yorker's Talk of the Town & whose comix can be found on ihavenoteeth.com, & whose comix frequently appear at Baltic & European comic conventions, & whose comix frequently appear in Gobshite Quarterly, did the Lithuanian translation for the text to Metaphyics In The Yard/Kiemo Met6afizika/Metafísica en el patio/Málfræđilegar upplýsingar í garðinum, which also appeared in Gobshite Quarterly.
Lohr, Michael: - Michael Lohr, a multilingual journalist, translator & roadie for various Scandinavian bands is currently quarantining in Ohio. He has translated dozens & dozens of essays, pomes, fiction, & comix excerpts for Gobshite Quarterly, as well as contributing the occasional essay, short story or reasoned rant. In fact he did the Icelandic translation for translation for the text to Metaphyics In The Yard/Málfræđilegar upplýsingar í garðinum/Kiemo metafizika, which also also appeared in Gobshite Quarterly.
Nemeth, Miroslav: - "Miroslav Nemeth began publishing as a member of the Croatian comic collective, The Wild Eye Group. He has published in fanzines and edited the strip-fanzine Katakomba. Though publishing little outside Croatia, he has published in comics editions of the Slovenian Stripburger - "Stripburger no. 32" (2002), "Madburger" (2002), "Warbuger" (2003), and "Miniburger" (2004). In 2006 he published Xerox Creatures, an album to accompany an exhibition of his work in Zagreb.From 2012-2021 Nemeth published graphic narratives in the Portland, Oregon-based multilingual magazine Gobshite Quarterly. He is about to finish an album of 108 graphic prints, with text, to be published in Croatia.Nemeth's black and white linocuts are influenced by the traditions of Czech and Hungarian animation, distinguished by large blocks of dark space within surreal and expressionist designs. The accompanying text is simple and declarative."
