Martin, Amy – The Single Girls

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The Single Girls

Ah, the random comics I get in the mail.  Every time I think maybe I should sell all my minis to Poopsheet or anybody else that would take them and move to Iceland to live life as a hermit, I get another pile of comics like this that makes me realize I don’t have things so bad.  This is a collection of strips of varying lengths dealing with the life of single girls.  As should have been blisteringly obvious from the title, but hey, I’m trying to write a review/recap here.  This appears to be the oldest of the books Amy sent to me, but I like to think that 2008 isn’t yet completely outdated.  It starts off with Amy telling the audience exactly what’s coming, as she lists a number of things women are no longer willing to accept (wifeliness, sex in front of the tv, domesticity) and what they’re going to have instead (dancing alone, some fancy drinks).  Conservative types who have managed to make it to 2010 still somehow believing that a woman’s place is in the kitchen, please seek your entertainment elsewhere.  Strips in here deal with such subjects as hilariously off-color jokes, rapid mood swings (with cause), the happiness of getting a delayed period, cheerfully demolishing the self-esteem of men, poking a giant strap-on into the myth that you need men to do the heavy lifting, the thought of a year of celibacy, hoping the ringing phone is yours, the fear of commitment in men, and waking up to disappointment.  There’s more, as this is a fairly hefty collection, but why ruin all the surprises?  This is a pile of funny, and that’s even with the obvious realization that I am not the target audience for this comic.  Single ladies, this one is clearly for you.  This almost feels like a series of New Yorker strips at times (and I mean that in the best possible way), except for the fact that I believe the New Yorker still believes all sex talk in comics should be vague to stay in that strange realm of “high-brow”, and Amy is anything but vague.  I’m really looking forward to reading her other books, especially considering the fact that she probably got better as she went along.  Check it out already!  $6