I finally met Sean for the first time at Cartoon Crossroads this year (or at least it seemed to both of us like it was the first time meeting; it’s always possible we met briefly at a previous con and then forgot) and he’s delightful, in case anybody was wondering. When he told me that this book was a collection of previous stories from his anthology Rust Belt Review (up to #7 as of this writing, and for anybody who wondered why I stopped reviewing them after the first issue, I just haven’t seen any more out in the wild) I figured it would be a collection of unconnected stories, but since I’ve liked his other comics I had no troubles with that. Reader, this is a graphic novel, and a damned good one at that. It flowed seamlessly, with no indications that it was previously released in serial form in his anthology series. I actually reviewed the first maybe dozen pages years ago, and it’s after that that things really start getting good. The basic story is that there’s a slacker named David living at his friend’s house, going nowhere in life, until his friend decides to move back and gives David an ultimatum to move out. That’s right around the time that David’s father reportedly died, leaving him $20,000, which is what he needs to maybe work on his dream of starting a landscaping business. But of course he throws a party first, and that’s where the reader sees that he’s under surveillance. The cast of characters just keeps growing from there, as we quickly learn that a large amount of money was stolen by David’s father (closer to millions than $20,000), the people who had the money stolen are trying to track it down, his father’s old partner is also trying to track it down, and Sean keeps up an admirable pace with this heist story. Well, not heist, I guess, more of a “getting the money after the heist” story. Is there a word for that? Anyway, it keeps you guessing throughout, Sean spends the time necessary to make every one of these characters feel believable and real (with their own quirks and problems), and it all comes together beautifully in the end. Thoroughly recommended, give it a shot why don’t you? $20
