''Fleep'' is a

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

Jason Shiga Jason Shiga (born 1976) is an American cartoonist who incorporates puzzles, mysteries and unconventional narrative techniques into his work. Early life Jason Shiga is from Oakland, California. His father, Seiji Shiga, was an animator who worke ...

. It was originally published in

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

format in ''

AsianWeek ''AsianWeek'' was America's first and largest English-language print and on-line publication serving East Asian Americans. The news organization played an important role nationally and in the San Francisco Bay Area as the “Voice of Asian Americ ...

'' in 2002. It was later collected and published by Sparkplug Comic Books.

Synopsis

Jimmy Yee awakens to find himself trapped in a

telephone booth A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box, telephone box or public call box is a tiny structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience; typically the user steps into the booth and closes the boot ...

that is buried in concrete, and must figure out what happened before he suffocates.

Reception

The collected ''Fleep'' won the 2003

Ignatz Award The Ignatz Awards recognize outstanding achievements in comics and cartooning by small press creators or creator-owned projects published by larger publishers. They have been awarded each year at the Small Press Expo since 1997, only skipping a ...

for Outstanding Story."2003 Ignatz Award Recipients"

Small Press Expo The Small Press Expo (SPX) is an American alternative comics convention. A registered 501(c)(3) that was created in 1994, every year since its inception, SPX has put on a festival, known as The Expo, that provides a forum for artists, writers a ...

. October 1, 2003. Retrieved January 13, 2018. ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' described ''Fleep'' as "ingenious", "far from predictable", and "worthy of

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

".Arnold, Andrew D. (November 1, 2002)
"The Puzzling World of Jason Shiga"
''

''. ''

The Comics Journal ''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing r ...

'' considered its ending to be "quite shocking", and an example of the "strain of

nihilism Nihilism () encompasses various views that reject certain aspects of existence. There have been different nihilist positions, including the views that Existential nihilism, life is meaningless, that Moral nihilism, moral values are baseless, and ...

" in Shiga's work.Clough, Rob (July 25, 2014)
"Reviews: Demon"
''

''.

Publication history

Shaenon K. Garrity has noted that the publishers of ''AsianWeek'' had wanted "a comic about the '

Asian-American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for ...

experience, and were consequently "a little baffled" by ''Fleep'', which fits that description only in that the protagonist is Asian-American.Shiga Shiga Ko Ko Bop
by Shaenon K. Garrity; at ''ComixTalk''; published February 9, 2003; retrieved January 13, 2018 ''AsianWeek'' cancelled ''Fleep'' mid-story, and Shiga then took it to the Modern Tales webcomics collective.

References

External links

* 2003 graphic novels Ignatz Award winners for Outstanding Story {{2000s-graphic-novel-stub