by Elijah Brubaker
Reich #1
Reich is a biographical account of psychoanalyst and sex researcher Dr. Wilhelm Reich, a protégé of Freud. He courted scandal throughout Europe where he became known mostly for his controversial and radical ideas. Reich claimed to discover a palpable sexual energy, which he called “Orgone.” The political climate of WWII was not encouraging for a leftist, sexually progressive, Jewish activist with heterodox scientific theories. Reich was forced to move to America in 1939.
In America, Reich founded Orgonon, a commune/laboratory located in Rangely, Maine. There he continued his research into Orgone energy. Reich claimed the energy was a panacea and was determined to prove it to the world. Soon afterward, he was abruptly persecuted by the United States government. Reich tells the story of a man who lived with unwavering conviction in his beliefs and shows the potential danger of that conviction.
ISBN: 978-1-68148-568-3
Diamond Code: AUG161122
24 pages
B/W with a color cover
6″ x 9″
$3.00
Reich #2
Reich #2 begins with bad news for Wilhelm Reich. His professional life is on the upswing as he lectures at the Vienna Psychoanalytical Society in 1923. His persecution complex begins to show itself while his frankness causes professional complications. This issue deals with the time surrounding the writing of Reich’s manuscript, “The Function of the Orgasm.”
24 pages
6″ x 9″
B/W with a color cover
$3.00
Reich #3
In this flashback issue, Wilhelm Reich relives his childhood traumas, which may be the source of his later obsessions. This is an interesting and unflinching analysis of Reich through simple biographical sketches, illustrating the importance of his parents and friends in his psychological make-up. The art is inspired by the German Expressionists printmaking and combines it with wonderful cartooning.
24 pages
6″ x 9″
B/W with a color cover
$3.00
Reich #4
Reich #4 concludes the tragic events in young Reich’s childhood and recounts a day in Reich’s adult life that would politicize the young analyst, turning him eventually toward the communist party.
24 pages
6″ x 9″
B/W with a color cover
$4.00
Reich #5
24 pages
6″ x 9″
B/W with a color cover
$4.00
Reich #6
Issue 6 deals with the origins of Reich’s obsessions. Reich’s childhood is related to that of his relationships and medical research. This issue boasts a beautiful watercolor cover.
24 pages
6″ x 9″
B/W with a color cover
$4.00
Reich #7
Reich #7 jumps forward fourteen years, to another continent, away from the strife of World War II and the critical European press. Aided by his young son, Reich experiments with a strange new device on the Arizona desert. Unfortunately, controversy is not so far away as we might believe.
24 pages
6″ x 9″
B/W with a color cover
$4.00
Reich #8
Reich #8 brings Wilhelm Reich to American shores. He begins a new life and the discovery of Orgone is explained (sort of). Also this issue, the best picture of a sandwich Elijah has ever drawn.
24 pages
6″ x 9″
B/W with a color cover
$4.00
Reich #9
In the ninth chapter of this fascinating semi-true biography, Reich’s lab and equipment face the scrutiny of the feds, aiming to shut down what they consider perversion.
24 pages
6″ x 9″
B/W with a color cover
$5.00
Reich #10
In issue #10, Reich’s paranoia begins to seriously damage both his personal and professional relationships, leading to the resignation of two of his closest associates. Reich carries on, creating a machine that draws Orgone radiation out of the atmosphere — and then finding a way to use it as a weapon. By the end of the issue, Reich’s former lawyer has filed an injunction against him, and someone close to Reich is dead. Things are beginning to crumble. Reich’s future grows less and less certain.
24 pages
6″ x 9″
B/W with a color cover
$4.00
Reich #11
In issue #11, Reich refuses to comply with the terms of the government injunction against him, insisting that government organizations have no authority over scientific progress. His antagonistic and abusive behavior toward his wife continues, forcing her to leave him once and for all, taking their son, Peter, with her. Meanwhile, he continues his experiments with his “cloudbuster” machines, travels to Arizona to establish Little Orgonon and attempt to control the weather, and coldly turns away an old friend in need of help. At the end of this installment, Reich has moved to Washington, D.C., to conduct atmospheric research and be with a new lover; ominously, however, he has had a complaint filed against him for contempt of injunction. A court date is set, and Reich realizes that there may be no way to escape his fate.
Press:
“Brubaker’s shadowy, sketchy and angular style is a deft match for the bizarre world of Reich. There’s an almost haunting, static quality in each of the panels, even when there is movement involved.” — Rob Clough, High Low
24 pages
6″ x 9″
B/W with a color cover
$4.00
Reich #12
The final chapter of Reich’s story finds him in court trying to defend his research, a fellow scientist and his own sanity. After some deliberation and psychiatric review, a verdict is reached and he is sent to live out his final days in Lewisburg Penitentiary.
28 pages
6″ x 9″
B/W with a color cover
$4.00
Reviews:
“Here’s hoping you’re all reading along and giving this guy as much money as possible; he’s one of the many artists out there who should have complete freedom to do whatever the hell he feels like.” Optical Sloth
“Cartoonist and illustrator Elijah Brubaker has really started to get critics’ attention with his current comic book project Reich, from Sparkplug Comics: a fictionalized account of the notorious life of psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich, who was persecuted throughout his professional life for his theories on human sexuality. Through a long-time fascination and exhaustive research, Brubaker has crafted an absorbing portrait of a tortured and ambitious man, and he hasn’t even gotten to the part about aliens yet!” David Paggi, Wizard Universe
“I had not seen much of Brubaker’s work previously to picking up an issue of Reich, but I am a committed follower now. Working with outsized heads and compressed bodies that at first seem to suggest a much more lighthearted subject matter than we in fact have before us, Brubaker makes his characters come alive with completely believable and transparent personalities in only a few panels. Reich himself is alternately brooding and open. The regularity of the panels that divide up his pages is in fact the only visual constant in this book, as spaces warp and perspectives shift with each panel, making us feel at times as if we are in a fun house (which in fact we are). There is much in the style he uses here to remind one of David B.’s work in Epileptic, and like that work Brubaker allows dreams and monsters to fully occupy the diegetic space of this rigorously researched historical narrative. And his expressive simplicity owes a good deal to Chester Brown as well. But ultimately, the style feels very much Brubaker’s own, and it feels just right for the strange combination of shadow and sunshine that makes up his subject.” Jared Gardner, Guttergeek
“Brubaker’s shadowy, sketchy and angular style is a deft match for the bizarre world of Reich. There’s an almost haunting, static quality in each of the panels, even when there is movement involved. Brubaker wants the reader to focus in on each character’s body language in each panel as a counter-point to the dialogue. The sketchiness of the line allows the reader to focus on the expressionistic qualities of the character design, and the extensive use of shadow effects contributes to the downbeat mood of the comic. … Reich is one of the more impressive feats of comic biography that I’ve read and certainly the most interesting since Chester Brown’s Lous Riel, which was obviously a huge influence.” Rob Clough, Foxing Quarterly.