Did I pick a wildly unrepresentative sample image this time around? Kind of! If you read the book you’ll see why I decided to go that route. If you haven’t read it and you’re only continuing to read the review until I explain it (weirdo), it’s because the quiet sense of barely existing was difficult to convey on one page, as there was a slow build throughout the book. Maybe I should get into the book, huh? Things start off with Claire working in a mirror store, miserable and sick of her boss. Her life isn’t great, to put it mildly, until one day she’s chased down the street by a literal man-baby who has some definite bad intentions. She ends up fading away while escaping, which lets her get the upper hand on the guy… but it also leaves her completely invisible to the outside world. Everybody has their “what would I do if I was invisible” fantasies, right? Well, Claire spends a lot of time doing exactly what she wants to do, with the overall problem being that this all ends up with her even more isolated and alone than before. She is found out by a dog and bitten eventually, which at least helps the reader keep better track of where she is on the page (after she bandages her hand). We also get flashbacks to some of the events that led her to this state, and she does eventually make an attempt to go back to at least parts of her previous life. But how much can she really do if nobody can see her? The overwhelming feeling I got from this comic was “melancholy,” but it was also riveting, and it was entirely too easy to see that Claire didn’t have a lot of great options and was overall maybe better off as invisible. Still, “riveting” should be your takeaway from this review, and I was happy to see that Daryl has plenty of other comics available, so they’ll instantly go on my personal “hey dummy, don’t forget to check on this artist” list so I can periodically check to see what else they’ve been up to. You can buy a copy through the link on the title, or if you hurry (as of 3/11/25) it’s on sale at John Porcellino’s Spit and a Half shop for half off. Whatta deal! $15 (or $7.50 if you hurry)
