Amazing Adult Fantasy #16
That there is an excellent title for a mostly mundane diary comic. Tim did this strip for two years, from 2001-2003, and put out 24 issues. These issues have been collected into larger books , which means they’re still available, which means I’m allowed to ramble about them here. Not that there would be anything stopping me otherwise. This issue details December of 2002, but Tim mostly does a good job of making it seem timeless, as he keeps the topical references to a minimum. I doubt if that was a conscious strategy to make the work more universal, but kudos to the guy either way. Every day is three panels and topics include trying to motivate himself to paint, drinking, going out to shows and movies, dealing with car insurance, getting his first credit card, stealing Mario, getting screwed (figuratively) at Kinko’s, and the usual general hanging out. Hey, it’s a diary strip, the format is pretty well established by now. Of course, the fact that he was doing this 8 years ago tells me that he may well have been at least mildly innovative with the format, it’s just been imitated since then. But wait, there’s more! Tim submitted a strip to Young American Comics for their Bizmar issue and he reprints it here after it was (probably rightly) rejected. Finally the book takes a sharply depressing turn as the last page is dedicated to stories of illegal abortions and their consequences from 1969-1970. Yeah, let’s outlaw that again, you conservative nutjobs.  My only complaint is that the print is occasionally smashed up a bit and/or a bit faint, but never really to the point where it’s completely illegible. It’s a pretty decent book overall and I do have at least one more issue to read, so that’ll give me a more thorough understanding of the guy. Meanwhile, these collections of this series are a measly $5 per 6 issue collection, which is a steal.
