Optical Sloth

Website

And Then One Day #7 Now Available!  $4

If you thought the discussion about autobiography from ATOD #6 was definitive, well, Ryan did not agree.  This issue is the start of a new story arc (is it a story arc if it’s autobiography?  I didn’t think so) in which Ryan has a lengthy conversation with a university professor who has his own ideas on autobiography and its nature.  It is, at the very least, going to be continued in the next issue, so if you miss Ryan drawing big mutant fight scenes (which only happened in your own head, you weirdo), you might want to take a break until #9.  Ryan does manage to make the subject fascinating, even though it’s entirely possible that they’re never going to come up with a definitive conclusion on a subjective thing like this.  My main complaint with this issue is that he could have chucked the 3-5 pages of small talk, but then you have a completely dry story with very little evidence of humans being involved, so I probably would have complained either way.  He’s also stepped up his art a notch or two.  It was a never a problem to begin with, but there’s an impressive amount of detail once the story moves outside to a lunch conversation.  So what do they talk about exactly?  The background of the professor, whether or not autobiography (or even history) is more truthful than fiction, the benefits of autobiography that manages to help people while not being completely truthful (he uses that “recovering drug addict” from Oprah to make a good point), and the difference between objective and emotional honesty.  I loved it, but then again I’m immersed in comics on a regular basis, so your mileage may vary.  If you prefer his funnier stuff there are plenty of options on this page, if you like a good intellectual discussion there’s plenty to love here.  $4

Website

And Then One Day #6 Now Available! $12

Boy is it tempting to ignore any semblance of a review and just go into the question posed in Ryan’s introduction: what is autobiography? Ryan had been mulling that over after seeing a theory that all autobiography is no more valid than fiction, as it’s all subjective information given by the subject in question. So Ryan decided to gather together various people from his life (parents, old and new friends, exes, acquaintances, even a teacher), give them a set of 20 questions and a tape recorder, and put them in a quiet room by themselves to answer all those questions. He then gathered all that information and put them all into this comic, which is theoretically more autobiographical than his previous comics. I think his leaving the room while they answered questions was a bit of overkill, as he’s no more likely to get truthful answers out of someone while they’re answering questions with the full knowledge that he’ll be listening to their answers soon enough anyway than he would if he was the one asking them, but who’s to say if I’m right on that one? Also I thought the interactions between himself and various friends would have been more potentially revealing than just setting them loose on their own. Well, there it is, that’s a ready-made project for #7, and the only thing that will satisfy my curiosity as to which method would work better. As for his general theories about how this would work out, he was probably right. We get to learn all sorts of things about Ryan that he probably would have never revealed otherwise, even if it is an “all ages” book, so we don’t get all the dirt and/or more embarrassing information, which is probably for the best anyway. You know, for somebody who was “taking a break” after #4, he sure has put out a lot of quality work since. I’m aware that my saying that everything he puts out is his best work yet gets a little tiring, but it sure seems true. This one is a must for any artist trying to define the nature of autobiography, as there’s plenty in here, from the content to the methodology, to get a conversation started on where this artform should go from here. $12

Website

And Then One Day #4

Damn it all! I had a review all ready to go in my head, talking about how this is the best issue of the series, how Ryan has put all of his skills together here to make the best cover to cover read of the series. It even has the best of the fuzzy covers! Then he has to go and ruin the whole thing by saying at the end of the book that this is going to be the last issue of ATOD, if not forever then at least until he gets though with the schooling needed for his master’s degree. So it looks like I can add Ryan to the growing list of comic creators who have given up, “temporarily” of course (because how many of them actually come back to comics with any kind of regularity?), on making comics right around the time that they completely win me over. Oh no, it couldn’t have been after the first issue, when I wasn’t really sure how the idea was going to turn out, he has to wait until things are going about as well as they can go in a diary strip, then bam. Most of this is tongue in cheek, of course, but damn it! He’d better still be this good when he comes back to the book! All that being said, it really is the best of the bunch, the jerk. Strips about working, teaching, trying to get a better job, renting a boat, looking at personal ads, buying a house, all sorts of good stuff in here. Maybe if enough people buy his books he’ll give up on this whole “personal improvement” kick and chain himself to his drawing desk to make comics again… $2

Website

And Then One Day #3 Now Available! $2

Hey, as long as the fuzzy covers keep coming, I’m happy. More tales of Ryan’s life in this one, mostly including him spending some time with his new girlfriend, fretting about getting a new job, hanging out with his parents, going to Las Vegas, meeting Art Spiegelman (although he left out the part where he actually talked to him), and his general obsession with everything to do with comics. The strips are getting funnier and he’s really getting the hang of this whole daily diary thing, and it’s not like I hated it to begin with. Look, it’s no secret that I love a good diary strip, and this is a pretty good diary strip. If that doesn’t convince you, well, then you must hate them and there’s no convincing you at all, so why am I still trying? This is also in the online store, contact info is up there, $2!

Website

And Then One Day #2

Three cheers for sticking with the fuzzy cover! It’s probably a pain to produce, but there’s nothing like holding a soft comic. OK, there are probably better things in the world, but I’m one for simple pleasures. I’d also like to apologize to Ryan, as I said in the last review that things seemed to be going really well for him, then it all started to fall apart. Still, he seems to be handling it all well. This comic was also the first time that I’m aware of someone using one of my reviews as a starting point for a diary strip, so I couldn’t help but use it for the sample. Hey, half the time this whole independent comics scene feels like one big circle jerk anyway, so allow me this indulgence. So what about this comic? Well, even though it deals with darker subject matter than the last issue, it manages to never get morose, as Ryan seems to have a good grip on the world. Sorry, no breakdowns put on paper here. Strips in here are about getting to teach a class on comics to kids, the best poster ever, breaking up, working, facial hair, obsessing over comics, a fiddle festival, a guy on a cell phone in the bathroom (what is up with that anyway?), and getting beat playing a video game by a five year old. I thought it was even better than the first one, which is always a good thing. It’s $2, contact info is up there and here’s that strip I was telling you about…

Website

And Then One Day #1

Ooh, fuzzy cover… Well, that’s one plus right off the bat. As you can probably see from the cover, this is a collection of autobiographical strips. The odd thing about this one, and I honestly can’t tell if it’s a good thing or a bad thing, is that this is pretty much an angst-free collection. I’m just so used to people who do autobio complaining about their job, or their girlfriend, or their lack of both of those (or either), that’s it’s just a bit startling when the worst a guy has to complain about is passing out at the gym from working out too much. Ryan, from what I could see in this one, is your average comics geek. He teaches, has a girlfriend and a (seemingly) normal family that he keeps in close contact with. I’m ready to see more because I can’t imagine that his life is this peaceful all the time. Here’s a website, this is $2 and worth a look.