Undercover Genie: The Irreverent Conjurings of An Illustrative Aladdin #1

Kyle Baker is one of the top Cartoonist in Comics.  His name is not always recognizable to the mass comic population since most of his work has been with Vertigo or fringe characters like Plastic Man.  The Undercover Genie is a Vertigo book from him that is kind of like a portfolio of his talent.  It is an anthology of short stories and has many sketches he has done over the years highlighting how flexible his style is.

What makes Kyle Baker so great is he is a student of art, he is constantly trying to learn new things.  The Undercover Genie has his growing pains as well as some really great moments. One problem I had with this book is that it is all in black and white, which is normally not a problem with me, until I found out he has a lot of the sketches in this book available online ( Kyle Baker Blog) and in color.  There are still a lot of exclusive things in this book, lots of sketches that are not online and all the short stories I am pretty sure are still only in this book. 

Kyle Baker always had a fertile mind.  His creativity cannot be matched, partly the is reason his creative mind is always working.  In the intro he mentions he is always drawing and always coming up with something different or new.  One idea I want to point out is Ghost Chimp M.D.  it was a throw away idea to Kyle Baker. He once mentioned  it was "THE WORST IDEA OF ALL TIME and all is right with the world again".  It was suppose to be a show he pitched to CBS back in the 90s.  The host of The Late Late show, Craig Ferguson, also came up with the idea as well.  This would be something Craig Ferguson would joke about on his Talk Show.    
  

Part of the reason I am a huge Kyle Baker fan is because the man is undeniably funny. If his written words don't make you laugh, then a lot of the times his pictures should.  The man is comics. He understands graphic narration, or what he called graphic communication.  Pictures tell a lot and it is up to the artist to express emotion as well as plot in their pictures.

Simple things like the Prince Symbol over Prince's privates for example, is both tasteful and yet very symbolic.  A comic is a unique form of communication because it has the benefits of a book where readers can take their time to digest information, but comics also have benefits of visual ques.  This Visual Communication is what separates a mediocre comic writer, a good comic writer and as well the masters.  A mediocre writer would be able to write a simple plot.  A good writer are like many in the industry today, I have respect for them because they can express great ideas in a story.  The Masters tend to be cartoonist because they have a better understanding of Graphic Communication.  What I mean by this is those that can draw and write tend to understand what needs to be in the comic. What makes certain things more symbolic.  What visual ques become extra information that words cannot express.  In one simple picture like the Prince Sketch, Kyle Baker proved to me that he is a master.  The primal level is executed wonderfully with the emotion expressed in the arms and face.  You can see a bit of shyness and as well seduction.  Sex sells and Prince happens to be on a wad of money.  His penis is covered by his symbol, a symbol combining both the symbol for male and female, meaning Prince is in touch with his feminine side.  The absolute kicker that made this so much more then just a picture, it is Homage to the famous painting: The Birth of Venus by Botticelli. 

The Masters in Comics understand that Comics are as much an art form as a communication medium.  It is not just a pretty story board for a script that just is not a TV or movie yet.  Comics can be unfilmable if the comic creators want their stories that way.  Those writers who can push the medium are the master of the medium.  Kyle Baker is one of these masters and The Undercover Genie is a great example of it.
 
In his intro he wrote: "If you don't know, you better ask somebody."  No words have ever been so true with Kyle Baker.  There are great chances you've seen his work on TV, magazines or comics, just didn't know it was him.  Kyle Baker is one of those talents that everyone in Comics respects.  They do so because he makes comic making look easy.

 Cheers
- Silkcuts