One of the pitfalls of my “gotta grab ’em all” approach to conventions (which always fails; at best I come away with comics from about 1/3 of the attendees) is that I end up having to get the “affordable” comic from certain tables. Which is not to say bad things about this comic, or any other comic where that’s been the circumstance. Ernie has a larger comic called Bellwether out that looks intriguing, but it also cost twice as much as this one, so you can see where this is going. No, it turns out that I cannot actually have all of the comics. Benevolent billionaires, you can still sponsor the website! I continue to believe that it’s possible to get and review all of the comics, with resources and help, and without the time sink of other full time employment. Anyway, enough of the “boo hoo, I can’t have all of the comics” nonsense, what’s the story with this one? It’s a collection of three autobio pieces, which were probably new to this and not previously published in anthologies? I think. First up is a piece dealing with his annoyance at a writing class, confirming my sad suspicion that most of those classes these days are more about online engagement than the art. Nice hopeful message and a solid closing bit, not that I’m going to ruin it here. Next up is a story about a moment in time in his food service career, where one employee is having a bad enough day to storm out and can’t even find a brief bit of privacy on her way, this time with a closing that’s bleak as hell, at least to me. Finally there’s a story about collecting trash from a backseat, which I’m really glad he clarified on his website was based on a dream. It ends up being a bizarre contest where he has to convince people that his bag of backseat trash is actually clothes, with disastrous results. Nice solid pile of stories, and one more name I’ll have to be on the lookout for at Cartoon Crossroads next year. Oh, will the pile of quality comics never end? In case I haven’t mentioned it, my new apartment came with a fainting couch, so I’ve been looking to get the vapors whenever possible. Sometimes I have to give them to myself, like here. Still, worth it! $5
