Matt Lesniewski continues to evolve with Faceless and the Family

THIS REVIEW IS SPOILER-FREE.

by Matthew Amuso. Hitting the scene five years ago with The Freak, Matt Lesniewski’s style has only continued to evolve. Faceless and the Family is a new high point. While his early work seemed influenced by artists like Mobius and Geoff Darrow, Faceless has an aesthetic reminiscent of a black-and-white Yellow Submarine filtered through manga, westerns, sci-fi, and Eighties cartoons. Geometric shapes and patterns dominate.

Every page is a smorgasbord of different textures: swarms of crosshatching, stippling, bold and soft lines, scratches, and squiggles everywhere. People and objects have enormous depth and weight. Sometimes, his figures elongate at impossible angles or dissolve into the background. While his approach is occasionally overwhelming, especially during action scenes, it’s always incredible to behold. As an artist, Lesniewski finds new ways to spark the imagination on almost every page.

The story follows a man known only as Faceless and the makeshift family he meets during his quest across their small planet, which is shaped like a hand floating in space. Poor folk dwell in the Palm, while the well-off live in the Finger Cities. Ten years ago, Faceless quit a violent gang, and he has hidden in plain sight ever since, wearing a huge piece of industrial piping as a disguise. Tired of hiding and hoping to reunite with his birth family, he strikes out for the Finger Cities to undergo reconstructive surgery, permanently concealing his identity.

Along the way, Faceless bonds with four other outcasts, each with their own broken pasts and inner burdens. Lesniewski has a genuine knack for character design. Everyone Faceless encounters has an original and distinctive look, and surreal as his style is, his faces are always unique and believable. This consistency gives the story a degree of naturalism despite the book’s overall strangeness. In one scene, huge warts erupt from the earth, unleashing monsters when they’re popped. Strangely detailed machinery is everywhere. This world is rife with cults, gangs, and shady plastic surgeons. But the sadness and loss Lesniewski etches onto these characters’ faces and the warmth they offer one another grounds us.

Unfortunately, the dialogue sometimes has the opposite effect. Characters tend to state exactly what they think or feel and bluntly lay out exposition. Sometimes, this fits Lesniewski’s heightened atmosphere, and the words carry the same fantastic energy as the images. More often, however, the clunkiness of Lesniewski’s words strains the story. Themes of family and self-acceptance are stated explicitly, keeping readers from working out the bigger ideas of Faceless for themselves. The plot is also a problem — there’s too much of it. Subplots, character arcs, and conflicts abound. The panel-to-panel story mechanics distract from the art’s function and can diminish its visual punch. Worldbuilding is important, but Faceless and the Family would be better served if Lesniewski let his art do the talking.

Still, he has created an idiosyncratic and immersive world that couldn’t have come from anyone else’s mind (or pencil). It has a tangible sense of heart, and passion hums through its pages. Faceless has its problems, but it’s no less an accomplishment. After all, the creative process is messy, especially on this scale. But Lesniewski’s ability to construct expansive worlds can only become stronger — so long as he continues to follow this path (and hones his concepts to the essentials), his future as a formidable cartoonist will continue to be a bright one.

7 / 10

Faceless and the Family is available now. For ordering information, click this.

Oni Press/$29.99
Written and drawn by Matt Lesniewski.

Check out this 4-page preview of Faceless and the Family, courtesy of Oni Press: