Oh past me, you big dummy. Wasn’t there a plan in place to review these in order from now on? There sure was! Luckily this one is self-contained, so I can get away with not doing that for at least one more issue. This one covers some familiar themes in the Eyeland-a-verse, not that that makes them any less relevant. Nick (or his giant eyeball stand-in) is trying to nail down reality again, and makes the discovery that part of the reason he feels like his time is slipping away is because he’s spending over 5 hours a day staring at his phone. I wish this was a shocking revelation, but he’s probably still doing pretty well compared to the people I see staring at their phones while crossing the street. From there he throws himself into his work, ponders the terrible nature of the reality that we’re all stuck living in, and is eventually asked (from a voice on high) whether or not he thinks the human experiment is worth continuing. After a revelation that I’m not going to spoil here (hey, if you’re curious about the answer to the secret of the universe, buy his comics!), he decides to turn to an old friend to try and figure out how he can best live his own life. Like it probably would be for most of us, the actual answer is unwelcome, but does that mean it’s impossible? At the bottom of every page of this comic is Nick’s story of his times spent in an isolation chamber, what he went through, how he describes to it friends, whether or not he’d recommend it, etc. The main story is more than enough to give anybody an existential crisis, but if it didn’t do the job, give the secondary story a chance! These are always worthwhile comics to read and consider, which is just about the highest praise I can give. This issue is a solid entry point if you’re considering just jumping into this world, and this time around I was even able to find a copy of it for sale online. $7
