Light It, Shoot It

by Graham Chaffee

Overview

Graham Chaffee's first graphic novel in seven years, Light It, Shoot It is a classic tale of noir below the spotlight.

Fresh out of prison for an arson conviction, clueless 20-year old Billy Bonney finds himself drifting through the seedy and unsavory world of cut-rate moviemaking, even more out of place amongst his peers than he felt as a teen six years earlier when he got busted. Following his brother to the sets of grade B and exploitation 1970s Hollywood seems like a path of least resistance, until he accidentally lands a job as a handler to a has-been actor. But the bright lights burn harsher and show more than he anticipated as he steps lucklessly into a gangster-driven plot to burn down a studio for the insurance money, and finds himself in over his head. Drunken, washed-up stars. Scrambling, past-their-own-prime producers. Teenage girls on the make, slick hustlers, and violent fixers. Drawn in bold brushstrokes, and hand-painted in subtle washes, Chaffee brings vintage LA to the page in a propulsive adventure.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781683966821
Publisher:	Fantagraphics
Publication date:	04/02/2024
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 10.30(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Graham Chaffee is a tattoo artist, painter and cartoonist who lives in Los Angeles. His previous books with Fantagraphics include The Big Wheels, Good Dog and To Have And To Hold.

Editorial Reviews

03/25/2024

An ex-con heads to 1970s Hollywood looking for a second chance only to end up in deeper trouble than before, in this fittingly sleazy throwback noir from Chaffee (To Have and To Hold). Billy Bonney is an anxious stutterer just out of prison, hated by most people in his small Western town for burning down the local factory—so he heads to L.A. to find his older brother Bobby, a gofer on the set of a grindhouse horror flick costarring their pugnacious drunk of an uncle, a “notorious bad boy” of the film biz. Billy promptly gets shunted aside by Chaffee, and the narrative reorients around Saul, a skirt-chasing producer known as the “King of Lowbudget,” who’s being pressured by his hoodlum backers to torch his studio for the insurance money. The script spins its wheels, taking in the ambient scuzz while the gears click into place for a showdown too preordained to have much bite. Still, Chaffee’s pastel washes, clear affection for the period, and well-stocked gallery of colorful hoodlums and reluctant heroes make up for the lack of suspense. It’s a sure thing for comics fans who dream of Quentin Tarantino helming a Raymond Chandler adaptation. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"Graham Chaffee, a tattoo artist and painter, returns to comics shelves every few years with a moody roman noir; the latest, Light It, Shoot It, is worth the seven-year wait since his last."

The New York Times

"Simply put, Light It, Shoot It is an excellent example of noir storytelling at its finest, soaked in a uniquely 1970s mood."

The Arts STL

"An overarching look at the corruption and sleaze of 1970s Hollywood."

Slings & Arrows

10/01/2023

Chaffee (To Have and To Hold) returns with this character-focused noir story set in 1970s Hollywood. Upon completing a prison sentence for burning down a factory in the small town where he grew up, 20-year-old Billy Bonney travels to Hollywood in search of Bobby, his brother. Bobby is working as a camera operator on a cheesy B-movie about vampires; he got the gig through their uncle Larry, a former movie star whose notoriously abrasive behavior has reduced him to appearing in such sleazy schlock. This particular piece of schlock is being produced by a slimy producer named Saul and his long-suffering partner Kate. When the unsavory gangsters who loaned Saul and Kate the money to make their latest masterpiece decide they're tired of waiting for a return on their investment and hatch a scheme to torch the production studio in order to collect the insurance payout, poor Billy's criminal record threatens to make him the perfect patsy. VERDICT Illustrated in gorgeous black-and-white brushstrokes and moodily evocative painted washes, this twisty thrill ride through old Hollywood features a large cast of complex and often surprisingly nuanced characters.

Library Journal

Illustrated in gorgeous black-and-white brushstrokes and moodily evocative painted washes, this twisty thrill ride through old Hollywood features a large cast of complex and nuanced characters.— "Library Journal"

Chaffee seamlessly depicts haggard, world-weary figures and heavy black ink shadows against stark whites, and his storytelling has a sinewy strength. It's a first-rate drama.— "Publishers Weekly"

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