John Martz

It runs a mere 24 pages, and the only words to be found are on the cover and in the colophon, but its sad, lonely characters and its bleak world are often more moving than those in [bigger works]. Its jobless robot seems to serve as a commentary on the way we treat the homeless (as less than human), judging their lack of marketable or useful skills, begrudging them the small pleasures on which they waste their few coins. Its single-minded aging inventor is equally alone, passing his days inspecting parts and able to pursue his dream only through persistence and hap. It’s sort of like the depressing version of the Johnny Cash song “One Piece at a Time,” about a man who builds a car by sneaking out each part in his lunchbox from the factory where he works. Martz could flesh out his world a little more (“why?” doesn’t get answered hardly at all), but there is deep feeling in his work, despite the cartooniness of it all.

With Heaven All Day Martz continues to grow as a cartoonist. In this wordless story, Martz merges his draughtsman skills and animation sensibilities to produce a wonderful story filled with isolation, melancholy and, in the end, hope.