As an artist and writer, Rick Veitch has paid his dues in the world of comics. While probably best known for his work on Swamp Thing (first as an artist with writer Alan Moore, then taking on full duties with his own acclaimed run) and Heavy Metal magazine, as well as other Moore collaborations, including 1963 and co-creating ABC Comics' Greyshirt character, he has in recent years built up an impressive library of graphic novels, including The One, Brat Pack, and Abraxas And The Earthman.

The most recent addition and one worthy of inclusion on your bookshelf – if you're up for a challenging read, that is – is his latest work, Can't Get No. Billed by some as a post 9-11 work, it's far more than that.

Chad Roe, a businessman who is down on his luck, gets terribly plastered one evening and against his will is tattooed from head to toe by two women. This sends his life into a downward spiral, a spiral accelerated when he is witness to the attacks of September 11, 2001. What follows is a journey of introspection and self-discovery.

First and foremost, and the hardest thing to avoid when talking about Can’t Get No, is the presentation. Not as much the sizing of the pages – it is presented in a “widescreen” 7.25” x 5.75” format, which made for some attractive layouts - but rather the mix of image-driven storytelling overlaid with a twisting, druggy poem of epic length. The images crispy, clearly and dynamically tell a story, while the text is a book length, sometimes pretentious poem that ostensibly has nothing to do with the narrative, yet more often than not intertwines with and comments on that narrative. I really enjoyed this device. While from time to time the two would drift a bit too far apart, when they two came together they really impacted one another in a big way, the verse adding weight and heft to the story, and vice versa. When we see the markers that will disrupt Roe's life in several ways, and the text speaks of a “suffocating self-embrace,” the two separate works become one. Very effective technique. It moves along at such a smooth and rapid clip that the moments when the text gets jarring or clunky or pretentious (and there are a few, most especially the latter) are put behind you swiftly. Far from being a gimmick, it’s truly an essential part of the experience.

It's also a device that seems to speak directly to the state of mind Chad Roe is in. Early on in the story, when our main character was still grounded in a reality we can sort of relate to, the overarching verse and the image-driven narrative are locked into one another. Constant bang, bang, bang. One commenting on the other; clearly, focused, in sync. Yet the further along he gets in his journey of self-discovery, loss, humanity, and self-examination, the more fractured it all seems to be, coming together less and less frequently as the graphic novel moves along. As a reader, trying to make sense of how it all links together becomes an exercise in leaps of confusion – which is totally story appropriate, I might add. By the end, though, it comes back full circle (presumably for story-related reasons). I’m not sure how purposeful this was, if it was truly planned this way, but it managed to bring the whole thing home for me. The end especially tied the whole piece together nicely.

With Veitch's resume, it should come as no surprise that the art and storytelling are strong. You could easily strip away the words and still have a crisp, clear narrative.

And speaking of the narrative, despite a hefty 350 pages or so, it’s pretty tight. Few are the times it drifts or meanders to the point of distraction. Oh, it does from time to time, taking little side paths here and there, but most of the time when you feel as if you’ve gotten off the path it snaps back into place pretty quickly. That, or there is something there worth reading despite the left turn in the narrative. I’m thinking in particular of a journey through giant models of dead presidents' heads. (Trust me, it makes sense in the story.) I'm not sure how much I enjoyed that as part of our main character’s journey - in fact, I know how much; not a ton - but the visual commentary was so rich here I was willing to take the ride. Segments with JFK and a Jackie O look alike were great.

Overall, really strong stuff. That Veitch managed to make me like the two awful women who did the markering job on Roe surprised me. That he managed to tie 9/11 into the story in a tasteful way that was essential to the story without being the story – despite what you may have read, this is not “a 9/11 graphic novel” – deserves praise. And the fact that he tried something with the medium that felt fresh and creative and unlike anything I had read before was a breath of fresh air. It has its flaws, not the least of which is language that often seems cumbersome just for the sake of being cumbersome, but in many ways those 'flaws' are Can't Get No's strengths.

This graphic novel doesn't meet you halfway; it challenges you; it asks you to take a chance with it, and rewards you for doing so. I really appreciated that.

At only about $12 from Amazon.com, if you're looking for something unlike anything you've read before, this is money well spent and a comic experience you’re not likely to forget.