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Fitzpatrick, Neil – Me

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Has the internet and social media ruined auto-bio comics, or have they just made it impossible for anybody to be completely honest in them? Please present your argument in the form of a 300 word essay… oh right, I was just asking a rhetorical question to start this review. This is Neil’s post-breakup therapy, done in the form of a comic. And no, I am not a dick for pointing that out, as he makes it pretty clear in the intro/outro. But what got me wondering about that opening question was the fact that everything he said in here was incredibly vague or general. Sure, he knows what he’s talking about, and his ex knows what he’s talking about, and some friends of both of them do too. The rest of us get to see that he got dumped by somebody who completely broke his heart, for reasons that he doesn’t think are fair, and that if he did tell everybody what she really did then her reputation would probably be ruined. Which is most likely the answer to my question right there, as he doesn’t want to ruin her life. Maybe I’m just spoiled because I read the original Peepshow strips by Joe Matt again recently, and his honesty is so relentless that it’s shocking when compared to more modern comics. Of course, that was back in the late 80’s, where the only people reading his strip were the ones who actively went out and bought Drawn & Quarterly (back when that was the name of a bimonthly (?) anthology series), and it’s not like that particular relationship of his ended well, in large part because he said too much about their relationship. I seem to have looped back around into understanding exactly why Neil did these strips without giving away any of the really sordid details. Oh, and those giant black eyeballs of his? MUCH creepier when placed on a recognizably human face. Anyway, if you’ve been involved in a breakup where you felt like you were the wronged party, you’re going to relate to plenty of these strips, and you’re going to fill in some of the details with bits of your own life where appropriate. If you’re the type of person who has only ever broken up with other people, maybe you should read this to see some of the damage you’ve done in your life, you monster you. $4

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