Arts ©Entertainment
Thursday, March 14, 1996 Page 9
iu__i_____
Jeff Randall
Cartoonist
challenges
comic game
Since their inception, comics have
been, generally speaking, little more
than lightweight entertainment for
kids and grown-ups who still have
child-like tendencies.
A few morality tales may enter the
superhero and cartoon-like atmo
sphere on occasion, and a few genu
ine literary and graphical geniuses
have had their turns in the industry,
but most comics have been little more
than mere entertainment.
If this is the case, though, one has
to wonder where Chris Ware fits into
the scheme.
With his “Acme Novelty Library”
scries. Ware breaks down the previ
ously established rules of the comic
book game — rules that are frequently
challenged in today’s independent
comics, but rarely challenged seri
ously.
“Acme Novelty Library,” which
will have its seventh volume released
in June from Fantagraphics Books, is
a well-illustrated and darkly themed
gem of the comic book world. Filled
to the edges with comic strips, narra
tives and parody advertisements that
put anything “Saturday Night Live”
has done to shame, this series is as
close to literature as comics have got
ten (with all due respect to Frank
Miller and Neil Gaiman).
Ware’s characters all contain real
human elements of pain and suffering.
And their pain is so subtle and seem
ingly minimal that it can affect the
reader like no other characters’ tor
ments can.
Universal issues, such as death, the
inevitable loneliness of life and a
hopeless search for love, arc parodied
with little regard to sanctity except for
a deep-seated appreciation of their
effects.
The only problem is that Ware hits
the mark so squarely on so many oc
casions that his work becomes genu
inely depressing — not that wicked,
cynical depression that is fostered by
comics of maximum violence and
emotional cruelty, but a depression
that sinks in slowly and is difficult to
shake.
The most effective of these efforts
comes forth in Ware’s “Jimmy
Corrigan” series. In it, the tales of a
young and twisted youth are inter
spersed with those of a middle-aged
man whose life seems to be nothing
more than an exercise in ineffective
acts and hopeless relationships.
Other strips like “Quimby the
Mouse” explore the same territory
from more traditional comic book
styles, but the results are still the same;
depression still reigns supreme. Even
in Ware’s ad parodies, dark elements
of lost childhood, self-humiliation and
dysfunctional relationships serve as a
dark overtone.
Ware offers no solutions to these
problems because he seemingly has
none. All he can do is dwell on them
in the hopes that they will eventually
dissipate.
Hopeless? Maybe. Interesting?
Definitely. Entertaining? It depends...
But what Chris Ware does works,
and at least there aren’t any charac
ters named “Wonder-” or “Super-”
something.
Randall is a sophomore news-editorial
major and the Daily Nebraskan arts and en
tertainment editor.
Travis Heying/DN
Jill Summerlin holds up oneof her creations at “Just Pretzels,” 2930 Cornhusker Hwy. The
family-owned business is the only one in Lincoln that specializes in making the large, soft
pretzels.
Just Pretzels gets a new look
By Gerry Beltz
Senior Reporter
Just Pretzels, at 2930 Comhusker,
may have opened its doors a little
more than two months ago, but it has
been serving Lincoln residents for
much longer.
“We’ve-supplied U-Stops and
bakeries,” said Jill Summerlin, one
of the co-owners of Just Pretzels,
“and we’ve been serving at UNL
football games outside the Big Red
Shop for the past two years.”
The newest part of the business
— selling from its own location —
has been an educational experience
for everyone involved, Summerlin
said.
“Our main push has always been
the wholesale market,” she said.
“The retail part we have just started
and arc still learning.
“We’re hoping to do well with it,
but we didn’t know what we would
get with it.”
Just Pretzels is run by
Summerlin, her sister, three broth
ers and mother, who started the busi
ness in another state.
“Mom has been doing this for the
past five years for her own business
in Colorado,” Jill Summerlin said,
“but since we came back to Ne
braska, it’s been Just Pretzels for
four years.”
Just Pretzels isn’t just pretzels, ei
ther.
“We offer pretzel sandwiches,
Swiss cheese pretzel sticks,
bratwurst in pretzel dough, frozen
pretzels, among other items,” she
said.
Having a store to work out of al
ways has been in the plans, Jill
Summerlin said.
“It’s always been our goal to get
a shop running,” she said, “and it just
happened to be now.”
Another new addition to Just
Pretzels is an 18-foot concessions
trailer, Summerlin said.
“We’ll be going to fairs and fes
tivals,” she said. “It’s a self-con
tained factory, and we can actually
make our product in the trailer it
self”
Business has been going well, she
said, and regular customers have
been popping up.
“We have a few faithful people
who stop in between 6:30 and 8 ev
ery morning.”
Future plans for Just Pretzels call
for widespread availability of their
product, Summerlin said.
“We want our wholesale business
to move into grocery stores and
pretty much anywhere we can put
them,” she said.
Store hours at Just Pretzels are 6
a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Fri
day, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays,
and the store is closed on Sundays.
Panel takes a look
at pornography issue
By Brian Priesman
Staff Reporter
What place does pornography
have in society? When is the line
between art and pornography
crossed? What effect does pornog
raphy have on women and society?
“Miss Autobody,” the latest pro
duction from the UNL Theatre and
Dance department tackles questions
like these head on.
And on Wednesday afternoon, on
the same set where “Miss
Autobody” is being performed, a
group of UNL students, faculty and
community figures met to discuss
these same questions and more.
“What’s Sex Got To Do With It:
Power and the Politics of Pornogra
phy,” a panel discussion, was devel
oped by the play’s director, Karen
Libman, in conjunction with “Miss
Autobody.”
Libman said she organized the
discussion to bring the subject of
pornography to an organized dia
logue.
“You'd have to live somewhere
in a hole in the ground to not have
come in contact with pornography,”
Libman said.
Included in the panel were Danny
Ladely from the Mary Riepma Ross
Theatre, Helen Moore from UNL’s
sociology department, Charlyne
Berens from the College of Journal
ism and Mass Communications,
Ann Hoschlcr from the Nebraska
Domestic Violence Sexual Assault
Coalition and the Rev. Patsy Moore,
formerly of Nebraska Wesleyan
University.
Bonnie Coffey from the Lincoln
Lancastcr Commission on the Sta
tus of Women served as moderator
of the panel, which focused mainly
on pornography’s effect on women.
“It’s not about sexuality,” Helen
Moore said. “It’s about the enslave
ment of women.”
The general consensus was that
pornography was wrong, but so was
censorship. Panelists said they
hoped that by focusing on the core
belief system of people, society
could begin to change.
“We cannot solve in 1996 what
has happened for 5,000 years,” Patsy
Moore said.
The panel became quite heated
toward the end of the discussion as
pornography and the treatment of
women on campus was brought up.
Spectators objected to advertise
ments in the media for strip bars and
clubs.
“Shut down the purveyors of
pom,” Berens said.
Put the heart of the issue was
summarized by one female audience
member.
“How do we eliminate the need?”
A capella
DogPipes
to perform
By Gerry Beltz
Senior Reporter
The Crib will have music tonight
at 9.
But there will be no instruments
for the DogPipes, a six-man a
capella group, in an event co-spon
sored by the Health Center Advisory
Board.
Rich Caruso, coordinator of
Campus Programs, didn’t just book
the group, he’s also a member.
“I’ve been with the group for
about eight months,” Caruso said,
“but the five of them have been to
gether for a couple of years.”
DogPipes performs a variety of
music, ranging from “The Lion
Sleeps Tonight” to Huey Lewis,
Caruso said.
“We even threw in a couple from
the doo-wop era,” he said. “We do
the ’50s through the ’90s and even
do some Boyz II Men.”
Although schedules sometimes
present problems, the band will con
tinue to perform, he said.
“We all work, and a couple of us
are going to school,” Caruso said,
“but when our schedules make it
possible to do shows, we do them.”
Admission to the event is free.
V
Comedy
redeems
simple plot
By Cherie Krueger
Film Critic
Find true love now, or you will
die.
This is the situation that therapist
Lucy Ackerman (Sarah Jessica
Parker) and her best friend, Joe
MacGonaughgill (Eric Schaeffer),
art* fnrino
WUUIU JU1I1|J
off the Brook
lyn Bridge if
they did not
find love be
fore turning
30. and Lucv’s
1-----1 30th birthday
is one month
away.
Joe has not dated in the past five
years because he has been infatuated
with his beautiful neighbor (Elle
Macpherson), whom he has been
watching and painting from his bed
room window.
Lucy has been hiding behind an
unfulfilling relationship with her
boyfriend to avoid commitment.
The two decide that by the end
of the month Joe has to talk to Jane,
his neighbor, and Lucy has to agree
to go out with any man who asks.
Lucy meets eccentric painter
Bwick Elias (Ben Stiller) and de
cides he could be “the one.” Joe in
vites Jane to the opening of his art
show and charms his way into her
heart. Both of them just might avoid
the plunge from the bridge.
Although the story is pretty pre
dictable and cheesy, it does have
enough humorous little scenes to
redeem it.
Parker’s portrayal of a woman
who is unsure about what she wants
in her personal life is convincing.
She knows what she wants out of her
Film: “If Lucy Fell”
Stars: Sarah Jessica Parker, Eric
Schaeffer, Ben Stiller
Director: Eric Schaeffer
Rating: R (adult subject matter,
language)
Grade: C+
Five Words: Love equals com
edy equals predictable
professional life, though, and does
what it takes to get it.
Her character is a lot of fun and
even has trouble remaining serious
when she is with clients. Parker must
have had a good time with the role.
I have trouble seeing Joe as a
painter. He just does not come off
as an artist. His character docs work
well as a teacher, and he seems to
mesh with the children he teaches.
Stiller definitely produced the
best performance, though. He
showed every stereotype that people
have of those involved in the arts,
and it was great.
If you don’t know how this film
is going to end after the first five
minutes, you might as well just
leave, but then you would miss the
only parts that are actually worth
watching.
If you can get past the predict
ability factor and just watch the char
acters interacting with each other,
you just might find the movie worth
your time.