Robbins, John – Sad Chemistry

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Sad Chemistry (“with” Sean Mac Roibin)

After reading Negotiating the Beast, I have to admit, I was curious to see if it was a fluke. Granted, that many really fantastic one page strips probably wasn’t, but the best way to find out was by reading something else from the man. The conclusion? Yep, the man has some serious talent. This is another collection of mostly one page strips, with a major difference: a 12 page internet romance in the center of the book. It’s the tale of John (although almost certainly not real, but who knows?) and Kaz, a significantly younger woman. John has some profound emotional issues, Kaz is a hopeless flirt who seems to want something real with John, and the dozen pages describe perfectly the state of modern correspondence: one person has all caps and sometimes barely decipherable abbreviations, the other manages to seem coherent and cogent at all times. Granted, the curmudgeon factor with me and internet abbreviations is considerable, so keep that in mind. It was a fascinating tale of “love” and loss although honestly, anything that takes space away from these incredible strips was bound to be at least mildly irksome. As for the strips, it’s the same story as Negotiating the Beast: various, seemingly pitch-perfect artistic styles, with the stories themselves being damned near too intricate for their tiny space requirement. Subjects in here include (and this is boiling them down as far as I can, which does them at least a mild disservice) early sexual awakenings, an eternal cynic, thinking too much, a realistic telling of the Disney Aladdin story, maternal bullying, an unwanted pregnancy, modern art, and a surrogate lover for the mentally handicapped. There are a few more pieces, but I feel guilty turning these stories into bullet points. Well worth a look, like the last issue, and it looks like the man has a few more things to choose from besides these two, assuming you check these out and love them…