The Adventures of Leeroy and Popo by Louis Roskosch
My late teenage years and early twenties were plagued by a perpetual feeling that I didn't fit in, probably common to many people at that age, but that felt deeply personal to me at the time.
I felt awkward, clumsy, uncomfortable in my own skin, and more often than not, an outsider looking in at other people who all seemed happier and more self-assured than I could ever dream of being.
Reading The Adventures of Leeroy and Popo brought those memories into sharp relief and Roskosch's work is a welcome addition to an established literary tradition of narratives focused on social outcasts who gaze in at the world from the fringes of society, exploring themes of alienation and self-worth, neatly wrapped in some virtuoso cartooning that all marks him as a creator worth looking out for in the future.
Leeroy and Popo are outsiders in every sense of the word, perhaps most obviously in the anthropomorphic forms they inhabit alongside the other, clearly human, people in their community - notably here Cecilia, the object of Leeroy's desire, and later, her 'much better looking and cooler' boyfriend, with whom Leeroy feels unable to compete.
That they are so visibly different is not immediately apparent, and in fact when we first meet the pair, as Popo watches Leeroy playing video games (specifically Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on the Nintendo Wii), the only other person present is Tyrone, Leeroy's younger brother, a bear like his sibling.
In retrospect - and as we see hints of Tyrone idolising (or at least looking up to) his older brother - we might argue this as evidence he will grow up to be as much of an outcast as either of our two heroes are.
Leeroy tells us he likes to play his game standing up because it's more 'immersive', suggesting straight away that, for him, the fantasy world where he plays a hero, is considerably more attractive than the one in which he lives his life.
We will see that need to be ‘a hero’ again, and it is in this fantasy he is most prone to hide.
The next time we see pair, they're in town and Leeroy is guiding them to the cafe where Celia, a girl who he clearly has a crush on, is working.
Leeroy's low self-esteem is evident here, he has already concluded Cecilia does not like him, yet, when they talk, she seems animated and is evidently interested in him, enthusing about the drawing style he describes and even coyly asking if he will draw her a picture.
In fiction, the outsider often exhibits a focused, desperate sense of motivation or drive, setting challenges (or perhaps more appropriately here, 'quests') to prove themselves worthy of entering society.
Sadly it is often that very nature that leads to their failure, the need to succeed is so great and their self-worth so low, they almost consign themselves to failure before they have even begun.
Leeroy clearly believes this opportunity to draw Cecilia a picture is the way to her heart and, as a reader already invested in him, it is painful to see how quickly he his resolve that he's 'not gonna screw this up' falters.
With less than 24 hours to go, he has not even begun to draw, instead choosing to spend his time smoking weed with Popo in his car.
He expresses nerves about the drawing – albeit over handing it over rather than actually drawing it in the first place – and he enlists his friend as a 'messenger of love', adding to romantic significance he is placing on the picture and at the same time, increasing the pressure on himself and the likelihood he will fail to achieve his own lofty standards.
At the same time, he rather tragically wonders whether he can get in shape playing video games, suggesting that he wants to change - losing weight will make him less 'different' - but at the same time, he wants to find a way to hold onto the comfort blankets of his current life.
Waking at 2:30pm the next day, it doesn't even occur to Leeroy - as it must to the reader - that the time he has to complete his drawing is ebbing slowly away.
He does, however, remember his plan to get fit playing video games and throws himself into a strenuous performance of Wii Boxing that leaves him with a sprained hand, an injury he is soon describing as a 'sports injury', furthering our impression that the world he escapes to is as real to him as the one he lives in day to day.
As he sits down to draw and the hours tick by - alongside a few beers and an energy drink - Leeroy becomes increasingly frustrated by his lack of inspiration.
Popo arrives the next day and finds his friend asleep, exhausted after working all night, and while he is clearly aware the resulting drawing is a little odd - visually representing Leeroy's ‘quest’ to win Cecilia in an imagined scene from a video game - it doesn't deter him from completing his own mission, handing the picture to a confused Cecilia, much to Leeroy's dismay when he wakes and realises what has happened.
When we see them next, three weeks have passed, and it seems the strange drawing hasn't completely ruined Leeroy's chances, having bumped into Cecilia by chance and left with her number.
We hope Leeroy will take this as a sign that he doesn't need to be a hero, just himself, and perhaps the next scene, which sees him trying to play a Superman game only to declare he 'can't deal' with it, is a sign he has turned a corner.
The next two pages are a brilliant interlude, a double page spread of Leeroy and Popo's Facebook pages and a sad testament to their isolation and status as outsiders, amassing a total of five friends between them (including each other).
Dialogue continues here over instant messages, with Popo talking his friend into actually taking the brave step of asking Cecilia out.
When we are introduced to Fat Rick, we're presented with an extreme example of an outcast, so lacking in social graces, even Leeroy and Popo reject him, choosing to hide rather than hang out with him.
Leeroy’s discomfort suggests a number of things, perhaps that any association with Fat Rick will reflect badly on him, but perhaps, at a stretch, that Rick represents the worst of him, who he might become if he fails to lift himself up and instead embraces life on the fringes of society.
However, his concern the encounter will affect his chances with Cecilia go unrealised, and she texts him shortly to ask him out for a drink, inspiring him to drop his usual clothes for a smarter, preppier look.
Leeroy’s nerves are obvious as he heads out to meet her, and there's an awkwardness about the ensuing date, especially when the bubbles start to appear around Leeroy's head indicating his rising levels of intoxication.
The nervousness we feel as a reader during the date is testament to how invested we are at this point in Leeroy and how badly we fear him making a mistake, not least because of how clear it is that even the smallest perceived error would be devastating to him.
He's so unsure about how things have gone that in the next scene we see him considering reviving his plan to draw for her, but this time, with a sense that his ambition to improve as an artists is based on his desire for self-improvement.
He's seen a way into society and he is making serious plans.
It's intriguing here as well, that he chooses the moment to enquire about Popo, whose life has been on the periphery of the story to this point, the empathy he shows in asking perhaps giving us a further insight into the change happening in him and perhaps a glimmer of maturation.
Conversely, given the relatively serious nature of the situation Popo describes, one might suggest Leeroy has been too wrapped up in his in own drama to have been as supportive as he should to a friend who has, at the very least, been a loyal wingman.
The next scene tends to support that argument, Leeroy obsessed by the return to his ‘quest’ has switched his phone off, declines the opportunity to go out with Popo, and is visibly rude, telling his friend not to disturb him while he works on his 'masterpiece'.
That's not enough to deter the loyal Popo though, who having seen Cecilia out with another guy, determines he can't let his friend make a fool of himself and rushes to stop Leeroy giving her the finished drawing, convincing him that he can't compete with the man he has seen Cecilia with.
As the reader we are frustrated by Leeroy's capitulation here.
There are hints that this 'much better looking and cooler' - and more visibly human - guy, doesn't treat Cecilia very well.
We see him apologising for having let her down a week earlier, and his comment that 'Someone ... Something just came up', suggests he isn't exactly faithful.
But Leeroy can't take the risk and is far more comfortable sinking back into his previous existence, sinking even lower, as represented by his apparent acceptance of Fat Rick in the epilogue, his stated desire to 'get drunk', suggesting his efforts at self-improvement are over for now.
The role of the outsider in literature is a complex one, but it has often been used to examine a poignant moment or event through the lens of from someone who sits on the fringes of society and thus has that much more acute a view of it.
The sense of pain the outsider feels as a result of their alienation and lack of any sense of belonging can heighten an emotional story and elevate the empathy of the reader.
For me, Roskosch more than achieves this here, and while it may well be a reflection of my own sense of empathy for Leeroy and the memories it dug up of my own experiences, I found The Adventures of Leeroy and Popo a compelling read that left me thinking, and had me reaching for the book to re-read thinks in the following days.
Roskoch’s art is the perfect companion to his story and using only the simplest lines he is able to convey a variety of complex emotions, embuing his characters with convincing, real characters that add depth to the book.
And it's not just in his expressive and engaging character design that he shines, but also in his elegant establishing shots, where meticulously rendered architecture adds another layer of texture to the world Leeroy and Popo inhabit.
It was Roskoch’s cartooning style that made me reach forThe Adventures of Leeroy and Popo, but it is the rich characters and poignant way in which he deals with his subject matter that will have me coming back for more.
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