Dan the Unharmable vol. 1

Unlike a lot of other publishers, Avatar doesn’t seem to place many restrictions on sexual or violent content in its titles.  I imagine that kind of freedom is how they get writers like Garth Ennis, Warren Ellis, David Lapham, Kieron Gillen, and Alan Moore to write comics for them.  “No limits” is an appealing thing to any writer.  However, too much sex and violence can either distract from the quality of the book at hand or come off like a crutch that the creator is using to tell their story.  In the case of this volume from Lapham and artist Rafael Ortiz, these things are more of a distraction in the story of the title character who really can’t be harmed by anything.  As a result, Dan leads a pretty carefree life on the streets of New York, doing odd jobs for the cash he needs and hanging out with his homeless friend Tober.  This all changes when a girl named Chandra tells him that he’s a father to her, her sisters, and brother and that they’re all being hunted by a cult leader from L.A.  It’s a big enough shock to give a man cancer, but Dan’s the kind of guy to take it all in stride and head over with Chan to the Sunshine State to help her out.  Or something.

The title character is easily the best thing about this collection.  Dan’s ultra-laid-back mindset in the face of all the book’s craziness — people get their crotches punched through, orgies are had, we see a guy’s footlong leather-bound penis, there’s a girl with a sexual tooth fetish — really does a lot to help keep things from flying completely off the rails.  It also helps that he’s a basically decent, if occasionally thoughtless, guy at heart who happens to be completely unharmable.  Unfortunately, Lapham keeps piles on the violence and “rape talk” in such a way that it significantly interferes with the book’s relaxed charms.  Artist Ortiz gives Dan a great “shaggy dog” look and his work with the rest of the cast is similarly good, even if his storytelling is just alright.  However, the artistic highlight of the book for me was the cover gallery at the back, as Dan’s nonchalant presence makes the covers work as parodies of the usual brand of torture porn you see on Avatar covers.  Between this and his work on “Crossed,” I really don’t think that Lapham makes the best use of the freedom he’s offered by the publisher.  Even though I liked seeing Dan shrug and stumble through this case, this probably would’ve worked better at an imprint like Vertigo where a little restraint could’ve gone a long way here.