Brainfag Forever (BFF)

"Brainfag is acerbically funny, sharply observant, and nearly Bukowski-like in its candidness. Whether Beaty is drawing black and white cityscapes of Portland, following the step-by-step degeneration of a relationship, or telling a story about a man whose excised colon can predict the future, Brainfag's a wide-ranging read, but always an entertaining one. "

"Here’s another collection of stories that will make you ride an emotional roller coaster. Lacking the humor of most comic collections, this book has a good amount of stunning art to keep the reader entranced in a dark neverland. Usually, reading the diary-type collection books is tough, if not totally boring, because there is nothing really gripping in them: I got up, took a shower, picked my friend up and took him to the airport, and so on. One can see, after twenty pages or so, that this would induce sleep. That does not happen here. In fact, the author makes you want to take that trip with him, because he paints a realistic picture of his travels. On the other hand, this guy’s love life should all be cut out, but I guess that’s the soap opera, gripping part of the book. The other great thing is the main character is drawn so that he ages over the course of the book, which makes the story mature. BFF, Brainfag Forever is a rolling read on a sunny day."

"How much do I love zine omnibuses? The appeal, as always for me, is watching the artist embark on a journey of self-discovery, and seeing how their abilities and interests evolve over time. With Nate, it isn’t so much that he starts at A and eventually ends at Z, but rather that he embraces the opportunity to constantly experiment with different styles and techniques. The presentation of BFF, which reprints in whole several issues of Brainfag, is always changing. Sometimes the comics are vaguely fictional with obvious real-world repercussions. Some of them overtly transcribe conversations between Nate and his friends or lovers. Sometimes the comics are lush with brush-and-ink urban landscapes that wordlessly set the scene of Nate’s life at a particular juncture. Sometimes the comics are hastily scribbled illustrations with tiny, urgent paragraphs of text. But he does not jump from one style to another and abandon his roots, he searches for the best way to express his desires and concerns… sometimes the results are simply adequate to preserve his thoughts for posterity, and sometimes they are rich with aesthetic beauty.

The litmus test of a book like BFF, for this reviewer, is how it inspires me. As somebody who has been making zines and comics for more than ten years, and whose self-publishing output has dwindled as I approach my 35th birthday, I can truly enjoy and appreciate a lot of zines without being really moved by them. But as I read BFF I found myself shifting restlessly. By the time I reached the halfway point in the book, I had to take a break to start my own journal comic, because I’d been carrying around some issues that needed to be worked out and BFF had given me a sense of direction. Now I’m finished with Nate’s book, and not only am I several pages into my own comic but I’ve somehow stumbled upon a series of personal revelations in the process. The way I see it, the most vital creative output is that which begets more creative output in those who experience it, and that is exactly what Nate has achieved in BFF."

"There are arguably too many autobiographical comics in the world (and I say that as a guilty party with Hey Monkey Riot). So I approached Brainfag Forever (BFF) with a fairly high level of cynicism. I was pleasantly surprised. The comics have a beautiful variety, pace and humour about them.

The book is a collection of highlights from the ten issues of Brainfag between 1999 and 2007. The first five issues are dealt with in only 30 pages, which is probably no bad thing since they’re not very good. He really hits his groove when he returns to the Orcas, an island off the North West of the USA, in issue 8. He starts working with Rotring fineliners, without pencilling, thumbnailing or scripting. The result is a 100 page comic of near perfect stream of conciousness detailing loves lost, frustration and life as a late twenty year old.

So far, so fairly standard but Nate Beaty rises above other more average creators by exploring a range of different techniques. He uses pens, brushes and a variety of styles. He deconstructs the comic pages beautifully filling them with funny, poignant stories. There’s a lot of the soul searching that you’d expect from an auto-bio comic but it doesn’t have the self-pitying lint that a lot of them do. It’s certainly a book that’s well worth picking up."

If you're into autobiographical comics and charming drawing styles, then the $9 required here is a bargain.

Nate Beaty’s style and writing is similar to Shawn Granton of Ten Foot Rule (not surprisingly, both were co-authors of the great Zinester’s Guide to Portland). The style reflects an angsty suburban-turned-urban grungy lifestyle and the usual mini-comic expressions of relationship sadsackery and existential floundering in a perpetual damp autumn of the soul, by way of ignoring adulthood and choosing a life of doodling on the poverty line. (Portland is great for that.)

...The lengthy piece from Brainfag #5 ... is his most stylistic and affecting. The illustrations are cartoony, but the watercolor-like shading adds the right emotional depth to a story about the aftermath and unintentional mindgames of a sad breakup.

The biggest trap for autobiographical comics is to get caught up in the author’s own personal aggrandizement or self-loathing. But Beaty shows a reasonable ability to balance himself. When he is in pain and disgusted with himself, it surely comes across, but he doesn’t ask for the reader’s pity. When things are working (admittedly rare) he doesn’t revel in it and expected to be thrilled. That makes his work far more palatable than so many others following in the same vein. Another thing that sets Beaty apart is the variety he shows in his art style. Some of the work is very rough. Some just leeches onto the fringes of realism. And yet at times, he sits down and does work of near photo-realism. But no matter what style he is using, you can see his talent growing as the book progresses, and that’s important. If it didn’t, it would almost be for naught.

It's pretty rare that anyone gets a glimpse into what goes on in the mind of an artist, but Beaty does a good job of giving the reader that glimpse. He shows how his work affects those around him (current girlfriends jealous of his depiction of ex-girlfriends, for example) and how those around him affect his work (bad breakups fuel his juices, good relationships dry them up). At times, BFF is almost philosophical: Beaty poignantly describes the frustration of pouring time, energy and soul into a creative piece, only to have it almost universally disliked.

If you've a taste for young men bemoaning their relationship and artist-career status then BFF will treat you well. Given that this covers eight years, don't be surprised at the diversity and evolution of Beaty's drawing styles. There's a scratchy expressive style, a realistic landscape mode, an all-caps manic version, a thumbnail reporting, and others. The strengths of the comic format come alive here.

"Most teenagers eventually become confused twentysomethings not unlike Nate Beaty, who bravely portrays his own emotional rollercoaster in the pages of his autobiographical Brainfag Forever comic, several issues of which have been collected in BFF (Microcosm). The cringey title references fibromylagia, a condition also known as "brain fatigue," i.e. brainfag. Beaty is a classic whiner in the hallowed autobiographical-comics tradition of R. Crumb and Joe Matt.... he blows your mind with beautiful, thick-lined, tragedy-strewn, full-page drawings of Seattle or radiant renderings of Oregon swimming holes."

"...blows your mind with beautiful, thick-lined, tragedy-strewn, full-page drawings of Seattle or radiant renderings of Oregon swimming holes."

"I'm halfway through reading Nate Beaty's amazing comic-zine compendium, BFF, and it is making me feel absolutely giddy. Ten years ago, zines were treasured things that people really labored over, not high production value toss-off art books like the stuff that Nieves tends to produce. Mr. Beaty's collection is a testament to that spirit of self-publishing before high-falutin' art/design types decided to pick up the torch of D.I.Y. publishing (and then just do a mediocre job of running with it). Girlfriends, ex-girlfriends, living weird, and just living life are rendered in a wonderful mix of ramshackle pen and ink alongside beautifully elaborate drawings of Portland, Oregon. Do your self a favor: pick it up. It's in the best read of the summer list for me, along with a bunch of Michael Chabon's stuff. I'll be voting Beaty in the upcoming election."

"One of the highlights was Beaty’s portrayal of his angst over drawing himself. One issue has everyone hilariously portrayed with pig snouts. There are also beautiful illustrations of the Steel Bridge and other areas of Portland. Beaty has a wide range of drawing talents and the writing does not disappoint. Check it out friends!"

"If you're a fan of the autobiographical genre, you'd enjoy this offering ... you'll never find such an unendingly varying style anywhere else."