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Multiplex

Multiplex is a comic about movie theater employees which nicely mixes teen drama, movie references and many opinionated characters. The characters are great and they really make the comic enjoyable. We’ll come back to them in a minute, but let’s talk about the setting first.

The movie theater is called Multiplex 10, which calls up a mental image of a sprawling, overgrown movie complex with hundreds of movie screens. That’s just my personal take - there is nothing I’ve seen in the comic that suggests hundreds of theaters, but a much more reasonable ten or twenty.

More impressive than the theater is the wonderful variety of characters. On the cast pages, you get a little taste of them by their favorite moves and expressions. Most of them have a little bit of the movie geek inside somewhere and this lets them give reviews of the movies that Mutiplex is showing. Mr. McAlpin goes out of his way in some of the comments to let you know that the opinions offered by the characters are not his. He has his own thoughts and the characters have theirs. They are certainly very specfic individuals who speak, think and behave quite differently than each other. This is not an easy feat for a single artist to do, as the characters, in some way, come from their creator.

Another nice point is that it’s not unthinkable that characters leave the Multiplex. That says to me that the strip does not hinge on any one person or topic of humor embodied by that person. They are also each designed with a unique look and expressions.

The art is full of little details like popcorn on the floor, along with movie stills and posters. According to the FAQ (found in the forums,) Multiplex is mostly drawn in Adobe Illustrator. This allows Mr. McAlpin to use libraries of character poses and props and focus on the story and dialogue.

It’s in the story where Multiplex really shines. While there are jokes and references to movies, they act as a background to what is going on. Referring to movies the audience has seen at their own movie theater allows them to connect with the characters in a way that is rarely found in comics. Each of the employees have their own personal concerns and lives - and of course some of the have dated or are dating. The storylines stay on their certain theme, with humorous diversions that show some real depth of character and story.

Storylines are tied up nicely and have a real emotional weight for such a light hearted strip. It’s kind of sneaky, really. There are moments of drama broken up with snarky, sarcastic comments from the employees. It’s easy to be entertained by each strip individually but then the next strip reminds you that there is something kind of important going on. It catches you by surprise.

Multiplex is an entertaining comic with something to offer for movie lovers and comic fans, as well as the casual viewer. The characters really steal the show.

Multiplex
by Gordon McAlpin

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