A quick note—On Vinyl is a graphic novel for adults. It has a some adult situations and mild drug use. And a lot of middle-age angst.
“It give me hope, that a simple thing can still be valued”. This one line captures the essence of On Vinyl. This graphic novel isn’t a work that everyone will enjoy, but it will speak to a particular type of collector. Not the person who collects for the sake of having a “complete” collection, or the person who just “likes lighthouses”. This book is for the “expert”—the one who collects specific things because each one demonstrates a particular specialty or technique. As another line aptly puts it: “Collectors and hoarders are not the same”.
Lenny is both the owner of a record store and a music aficionado. These two roles don’t always work harmoniously. Lenny looks upon records by popular artists with disdain, and spends much of his meagre revenue buying obscure vinyl. As a result, his store has a rather precarious existence. During the times when the store is empty, Lenny examines and re-examines his life choices, wondering how things could have gone so horribly wrong. As a graphic novel for adults, On Vinyl’s depiction of middle-aged angst might come uncomfortably close to reality.
A press release found inside a record sleeve provides Lenny with the address for ‘Hot Walter’, a disco-era DJ with a fabled record collection that was stolen and subsequently lost. Lenny decides to find Hot Walter and then locate the missing treasure…
Unfortunately, this is where the story loses its way. While the first half of On Vinyl is strong,
the second half is a bit of a mess. The redemptive mission that Lenny sets out to accomplish is completed far too quickly, and the plot spins out toward its unsatisfying conclusion.
On Vinyl does have its strengths, however. The customers who enter Lenny’s record store are both wonderfully weird yet familiar. There are the annoying loud-speaking technophiles who bombard everyone with their half of a phone conversation; the ones who take pictures of album covers so they can find the same item at a lower price online; the people who want to sell their vinyl but believe they’re getting screwed over…and, of course, people who like the “weirdo” stuff. You end up sympathizing with Lenny and cringing when yet another customer enters the record store and asks for an album by Genesis. And as a wink to the reader, Lenny will sometimes break the fourth wall while making a sarcastic retort. As a fellow collector, you’re a member of his club.
On Vinyl
Lorenz Peter (Writer, Artist)
Conundrum Press, 2018
On Vinyl
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