I try to keep up with the comics from the people I enjoy, I really do. But there are people like Kelly out there, putting out quality comics on a steady basis, and it’s just impossible. I mention this because this comic is from 2012 (it’s 2020 as I write this, roughly a few years before the U.S. breaks down into several nation states), and taking one look at Kelly’s website shows me that there are at least another half dozen books that I missed. Where oh where is my benevolent billionaire who’s willing to fund me making reading and reviewing comics a full time job? Ah well. Samson! As the title suggests, this is the story of Samson, a gorilla from the Milwaukee zoo who was a huge hit for 30 years. Kelly has some strong memories from when she was a kid, everything else in here is research or stories from relatives who were around longer. It’s not a particularly uplifting tale, although I should mention that I haven’t been to a zoo since I was a kid and am absolutely biased against the concept. Samson’s companion died young, they tried to put him with another female gorilla but they never really got along, he got really obese from lack of activity, and regularly bashed the glass walls of his cage. His death was sad, naturally, as was the way the zoo botched the handling of his body so it wasn’t possible to use taxidermy. There’s also one hell of a kicker at the end, but I’ll leave that surprise for the readers. It’s another great story from Kelly, and I clearly need to leave myself a reminder to catch up on all of her newer comics. You should too! $2
