Fitzpatrick, Neil – Jerry’s Journal #2

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Jerry’s Journal #2

How much of this comic is autobiographical anyway? There’s no way to know, and Neil makes fun of that fact in his brief epilogue. But the fact remains that Neil got his heart broken while he was making this comic, and the second half (and then some) deals purely with “Jerry” trying to come to terms with it. This comic is a series of one page strips, dealing mostly with life, trying to get some meaning out of it and the horror of dealing with a breakup. It’s pretty clear where this breakup happens, as things get grim in a hurry. Still, plenty of that stuff will look familiar to other people who have had their hearts broken, or everyone. Unless you’re one of those assholes who only breaks hearts, in which case shame on you, aren’t you aware of the trail of devastation you leave in your wake? Those looks aren’t going to last forever, you know. Anyway, there are still plenty of genuinely funny moments, as Neil is a master of that sort of thing. But this one also gets a bit more “real” than past issues of Neil’s comics. Or not, as Neil has always been about finding some meaning in the universe, and what’s more real than that? If you like his stuff I can’t see why you wouldn’t like this one, and if you’re not familiar with his stuff, where have you been these last 10 years or so? The man’s a comic producing machine and you should be reading his stuff. $5