 | This is the freshman work of a talented young Objectivist cartoonist named Bosch Fawstin. He's been nominated for an Eisner award (the comic equivalent of an Oscar) in the category of "talent deserving of wider recognition."
The plot of the story is fairly simple but deep. When Rand spoke of writing the Fountainhead she often pointed out that a diverse cast of characters such as those in the novel might not ever come into conflict in the manner described in her book, but the events in the plot lead each character to the farthest logical conclusion of each of their premises, that too can be said of this story.
The plot revolves around the character of young Will Howland on the one year anniversary of taking a bet from his uncle Ritchie that he couldn't last in a job in the service industry (as a waiter no less). Will takes the bet because he needs the money to publish his first major writing project, he had the day off but due to the fact that he got his relief fired (for stealing!) he's called into work.
He then proceeds to "walk into a crowded room... not a soul in sight." It starts out as just another night, serving the mediocrities who frequent the restaurant, dealing with his co-workers of whom he has mixed opinions (as in some he loves others he holds in contempt). And then the woman he loves, the woman he thought he lost forever walks in. From this point on all the characters are then pushed through their own development (or lack thereof) to the point where past present and future merge on a single night, in a lonely restaurant.
Overall the plot is good for a first time effort, but ultimately where Fawstin shines is in two areas (for me at least). His rendering style, which is a stylized, cartoony, and highly functional ink wash reminiscent of his acknowledged hero Alex Toth (a man primarily know for his minimalist rendering style emphasizing only that which the mind needed to know to understand the story). The other is his flowing and original page/panel layouts, he understands where and when to incorporate text effectively how to use space as time and emotion and create the perfect mood by the scenes he sets.
I think the nomination says it all "Talent deserving of wider recognition"
---Landon
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A Table For One by Bosch Fawstin
