"You Are Here" is a graphic novel created by Kyle Baker, initially evolving from a comic strip that struggled to find a publisher. The narrative centers around Noel Coleman, a former jewel thief aiming to reform his life, and his optimistic girlfriend, Helen. Set against the backdrop of New York City, the story entwines themes of personal transformation, deception, and the contrast between idealism and realism. As Noel attempts to distance himself from his criminal past, he faces the relentless threat of Vaughn Dreyfuss, a murderer seeking revenge.

Baker's artistic style combines traditional pen and ink with 3-D rendering, allowing for a dynamic visual experience that enhances the story's emotional depth. The graphic novel explores complex themes of internal conflict, love, and the balance between joy and pain. Its unique narrative structure and focus on character development distinguish it from typical plots in the genre. Ultimately, "You Are Here" marks a pivotal moment in Baker's career, establishing him as a key figure in graphic novels and allowing him greater creative control in his future works.

Published in: 2022

By: Kleefeld, Sean

Subject Terms

You Are Here originated as a comic very different from the finished graphic novel. Creator Kyle Baker initially wrote a story about two friends, one of whom learns that material success does not necessarily lead to happiness. However, he felt the story had no real conflict, and he was unable to sell the idea to any publishers. Baker began to rework the plot by adding a more distinct villain and a more readily identifiable conflict. He also heightened tensions in the book by adding realistically deadly threats throughout the story.

Not wanting to see the nearly two dozen pages of art from his original story go unpublished, he began serializing them in Instant Piano, a 1994-1995 anthology comic to which he was already contributing. While those excerpts ran under the You Are Here title, Baker had already begun work on his revised story and was aware that he would never complete the original. He liked the name, however, and opted to keep it for his book, knowing Instant Piano readers would be looking for that title. The new story was noticeably different by page 3, so he felt confident that readers would not be disappointed by the change. Ultimately, You Are Here was published by DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint in 1999.

Plot

In a serene cabin nestled in the woods, a body lies motionless in a bathtub overflowing with red liquid. Helen cheerfully enters the room to see how Noel is handling the tomato juice bath he is using to wash off the stench of a skunk. She then goes into the next room to repack Noel’s suitcase. Her mother is somewhat abrasive about him, but Helen dismisses her barbs and talks with a deer that has wandered into the kitchen before coaxing Noel out of the bath to watch the sunset.

Noel visits his New York City apartment, only to find that his friend Oscar has been using it as a convenient location for one-night stands. After Oscar’s lovers storm off, Oscar and Noel catch up at a nearby bar. Noel learns that his attempt to straighten out his life with Helen has been misinterpreted by his former colleagues, who believed he was in prison. Oscar takes Noel to meet his stripper girlfriend, Tracy, and the three go to a local diner. While watching television, Noel and Oscar learn that Vaughn Dreyfuss, a murderer whose wife Noel slept with, was recently released from prison and is actively looking for Noel.

Noel returns to his apartment, where Helen is waiting for him. She announces that she is pregnant; once Noel recovers from the shock, he proposes. Helen is thrilled. Planning to leave the city, they soon realize that their truck has been towed. After a trip to get Noel’s license renewed, they again attempt to leave, only to run out of gas.

Noel and Helen walk to the nearest gas station and fill up a glass jar. Helen realizes the sun is about to set and races to find a good vantage point from which to watch. Still carrying the gasoline, Noel tries to keep up while perilously avoiding open flames. As they are about to watch the sunset, a mugger confronts them. Helen manages to convince him to wait and watch the sunset with them, but he robs them anyway.

Helen and Noel encounter Oscar and Tracy, and the latter suggests a carriage ride in Central Park. Helen drags Noel off as Oscar goes to make a phone call. While on the phone, Oscar is accosted by Vaughn, who coerces Oscar to tell him where Noel is. Oscar points him to Central Park, and Vaughn thanks him before killing him.

While in the carriage with Helen, Noel spots Vaughn trailing them. Noel manages to frighten the horse into a gallop, but Vaughn follows closely. Helen and Noel lead a chase through Central Park, eventually hiding in and around the Alice in Wonderland sculpture.

They run into Tracy again and agree to drive her to her “simulated sex act” show. Helen is incredulous as Noel tells her of his former life as a jewel thief and explains the reason Vaughn is trying to kill him. Unable to cope with these revelations, Helen runs away. When the crowd of lust-filled men gathered to watch the show tries to rape Tracy, Noel intercedes, and he and Tracy manage to fight off the group.

As Noel returns to his apartment, a stranger hands him a series of faxes indicating that Vaughn is targeting Helen. Realizing where Helen is going, Noel races to reach the Staten Island Ferry, where Vaughn has already cornered her. Noel manages to sneak up on Vaughn, and the two fight, each inflicting the other with nearly fatal wounds. Noel finally triumphs, shooting the now-paralyzed Vaughn and throwing his body overboard.

Many months later, Noel visits his baby at the cabin. Both Helen and her mother are upset with him, though Helen’s husband seems naïvely oblivious. As they banter back and forth, Tracy relaxes at Noel’s apartment, reading a romance novel and casually sporting an engagement ring.

Characters

•Noel Coleman is a handsome and charismatic former jewel thief who is trying to start a new, more honest life as an artist. His years as a criminal in New York City have given him a decidedly grim and jaundiced view of humanity, and much of his attraction to Helen is based on that fact that she holds an opposite view of the world. Throughout the story, he tries desperately to protect Helen from the liars, cheats, crooks, and prostitutes that populate the city, even if he must lie to her to do so.

•Helen Foster is an eternal optimist with a broad smile and fiery red hair. She sees the bright side of everyone and everything, going so far as to compliment a mugger for allowing her to keep her wallet after stealing all her money at gunpoint. She remains almost naïvely cheerful throughout the story, despite seeing the seediest side of humanity.

•Oscar is Noel’s old friend and partner. He is a self-infatuated womanizer with little respect for anyone. Stout, bald, and partially toothless, he is constantly on the lookout for a way to take advantage of any situation, though he frequently fails in that regard.

•Vaughn Dreyfuss is a murderer who was convicted a year before the story takes place. He is very clear about his intention to kill Noel, stating as much on national television. His Robert Mitchum-like good looks speak to his relentlessness and confidence, making him a grave threat to Noel and everyone he knows.

Artistic Style

Throughout the book, Baker uses techniques that both save him time and help serve the story. Though his figure work was created using traditional pen and ink, several of the background scenes were created using 3-D-rendering software. Baker cites his desire for speed and accuracy as the reason for his choice to use software in some scenes but not in others. Creating a digital model for the horse carriage, for example, was relatively simple, especially in comparison to drawing it by hand from many different perspectives. The ferry, however, would have been a more complex digital model and could be rendered traditionally just as easily.

Baker has also noted that part of the impetus behind You Are Here was his desire to spend hours sketching squirrels and trees in the park and sunrises and sunsets at the beach. Although most of the story takes place in New York City, Baker takes full advantage of natural settings, opening and closing the story in forested upstate New York and staging a twenty-page chase scene through the middle of Central Park. Apart from a few establishing shots, in fact, many of the city scenes feature no or minimal backgrounds, while all of the scenes that take place in nature are full of lush vegetation and wildlife.

Themes

Despite the external conflict represented by Vaughn, the biggest problem Noel faces in You Are Here is internal conflict. He loves Helen more for what she represents than who she is, and his desire to escape the life he led before he met her is his primary motivation. However, in attempting to cover up his past with lies and deceit, he inherently works against Helen’s ideals of openness and honesty. The more he attempts to change his personality to match hers, the more his old traits emerge.

Helen is not without influence, however, as Noel realizes that his previous life as a jewel thief was decidedly immoral. While he does not become nearly as idealistic as Helen, she inadvertently proves to him that not everyone is as selfish and self-centered as Oscar and that many of the joys in life are simple ones.

Conversely, Noel and Helen’s adventure affects Helen by showing her that even good men can be hurtful. Her implicit trust in the goodness of mankind is shattered when Noel kills the helpless Vaughn against her explicit wishes. Her saccharine goodness is brought down to a more realistic level in the last few pages, and she gains the ability to feel both positive and negative emotions. Baker’s conclusion suggests both that neither end of the emotional spectrum is healthy and that everyone needs to find a middle ground in which he or she can experience pain and joy in equal measure.

Impact

Baker felt that his work immediately prior to You Are Here, particularly the work he did in Hollywood, was diluted by other contributors by the time it was released. While he did feel he learned a great deal from those experiences, he was not able to put all of it into practice until You Are Here. The book was Baker’s first graphic novel to earn a profit, and he attributes much of its success to his decision not to target the broadest audience possible. The story does not follow a typical plot, instead relying on storytelling to captivate readers. Thus, the book became a turning point in Baker’s career, prompting him to take more control of his stories and emphasize graphic novels over serialized comics. You Are Here’s success allowed Baker to turn down projects over which he had less control, such as an aborted “Noah’s Ark” film, in favor of more graphic novels, such as King David (2002).

Bibliography

Baker, Kyle. How to Draw Stupid and Other Essentials of Cartooning. New York: Watson-Guptill, 2008.

Baker, Kyle, and Eric Nolen-Weathington. Kyle Baker. Modern Masters Volume 20. Raleigh, N.C.: Two-Morrows,2008.

Kaplan, Arie. Masters of the Comic Book Universe Revealed! Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2006.

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