Note: there’s no sample image for this review because I didn’t want to crack the spine of my fancy new hardcover to get it. Yeah, I admitted it. There’s also the fact that I would have a very hard time sampling just one page, so this keeps me from having to choose.
Oh hey, the review is starting now! If you’ve been around this website for any length of time (or comics at all), you already know about Julia Wertz. I do this thing where I review comics for people and then drop out of reviewing their graphic novels once they get successful, on the almost certainly wrong assumption that The Comics Journal and other fancier review sites can handle it. But dammit, I can’t let this one go by without talking about it a bit, because it’s the best thing she’s done yet, and boy howdy is that ever saying something. First, if you’ve only ever read my reviews of her work and not her actual work, shame on you. Every book she’s put out that I didn’t talk about (Impossible People, Museum of Mistakes, etc.) is worth getting, and they’re all on my bookshelf. I’m ashamed to admit that I briefly hesitated on this one, because I’m a childless weirdo and this is all about Julia deciding to have a child. I thought it might not connect with me as much as her other work. Reader, I couldn’t have been more wrong. I haven’t laughed out loud (which I spell out because it’s true) this much while reading a graphic novel since maybe Hot Dog Taste Test by Lisa Hanawalt, and that one is meant to be all jokes. This is the true story of her deciding to have a child, the trouble with actually having that child, excruciating details about pregnancy and giving birth, and the differences between living with the baby through his various stages of development. Well, up until about age 4, because this is a printed book and it had to stop somewhere. If you’re like me and wonder what compels people to have children in this broken, circling the drain world, you’d better believe that she gets into it, and you’d better believe that those doubts never really go away. But there’s also a tiny human around that’s constantly doing and saying incredible things, which is a big help. Julia also gets into everything else that was happening in her life while this was going on, but she somehow manages to do it without embarrassing anybody too much or revealing too much personal information, which is a hell of a skill. Her older brother gets hit with some of his previously mentioned (in other comics/graphic novels) mental health issues again, and she manages to avoid saying most of what went on with him while confining it more to her reactions and how it affected her during the pregnancy and early years of the baby. I also hope that Josh writes a book about his experiences, because she’s somehow only scratched the surface with her stories of him. Oh, and all of this happened in the early days of the pandemic, meaning that she had to do most of it alone; even her husband couldn’t come along with her to most of her appointments. And oh, the American health care system is thoroughly covered here, and if you don’t think you’re mad enough about it yet, reading this one will somehow turn that loathing dial up another few notches. Her book is a lot more linear and coherent than this review, but I have to once again point out: this shit if funny. Consistently, uproariously, did-I-really-hurt-my-back-laughing level of funny. And when I say “this shit,” you’d better believe there’s plenty of that involved in an open discussion about a new baby. I thought that after reading this book I’d probably recommend it mostly for new or prospective parents, but no, that’s too limiting. Humans who like Julia’s work, this is her best book yet, and you need to read this. Humans who haven’t read her work… sigh. There’s still time, and this is a fine place to start. $32
Posted by Kevin 
