As always with gigantic anthology collections like this, I like to make it easy on the reader. See that list of contributors in the tags? How many of your favorites do you see in there? Probably quite a few, huh? Then what’s left to think about? For the rest of you, or if you’re just trying to kill time at work, now I’ll say some stuff, then we can both go about our days. Hm, that seems like a grim way to sum up reviewing. Anyway! This is a collection of stories from people who are at their lowest points in life, so if you’re going into this expecting a barrel of laughs, you’ll be disappointed. There are some laughs, sure, as laughter can be the only way to get through some truly horrific times, but mostly it’s just sad. My biggest fear going into this, honestly, was seeing the worst parts of the lives of some of my favorite artists, but outside of a few of them, the artists were drawing the tales of people who submitted their stories anonymously. No, I’m not going to reveal which artists told their own stories; if you’re that curious about them get your own copy. There are also websites in the back so that anybody going through a similar issue in their own lives can get some help, so if you’re seeing too much of yourself in any of these stories, please do so. Not that you need to hear it from me, but I thought I’d throw it out there, because who knows when it’ll start seeming like good advice. There are roughly 40 stories in here, so I’m not going to go through them one by one, but I’ll give you some “highlights.” Subjects deal with reaching out for the last time and having it work out, the first time taking crack, getting beat up by cops (this one pops up more than a few times, which sadly isn’t shocking), using whiskey in a bong, getting addicted to voyeurism, a series of bottoms (a recurring theme was that there was rarely just one lowest point), having an imaginary dog, and very, very many slow descents to the bottom. It’s grim stuff, but it can also show you that there’s hope in even the worst times, as all of these people are still here to tell their stories. Get help if you need it, and give this comic a shot to see that however bad your situation is, there are people out there who have gone through something similar. $15
Hey look, a collection of (mostly) single page gag strips! Long time readers of this website may remember that I have one simple test to determine if such a book has more funny moments than not (as there’s always a few duds among the strips): how hard was it for me to pick the sample image? If I had to dig around and picked the one funny one, that’s not a great sign! If, like in this case, I had to narrow it down and still am not sure if I picked the funniest one in the bunch? Then that comic is a winner and is full of funny! Of course, another problem with reviewing such books is that nothing kills humor faster than dissecting it, which makes it somewhere between difficult and impossible to talk about it in any depth. So it’s time for my patented (I have no patents) method of mentioning out-of-context snippets from strips in the hopes of intriguing you enough to buy his book. Or you could look at his Instagram page to be convinced, as it’s full of free samples. Strips in this collection deal with crab fighting, coming to terms with being a cartoonist, buried treasure, “reading” on a long bus ride, Hulk vs. Spiderman, how social media came about, banana peels, cat farts, killing a tick, putting everything that isn’t already on the internet onto the internet, having a dog, BRB, giving up on the day, picking your own quote for your tombstone, the fate of all cartoonists, ex boyfriend style, Halloween baby, aliens meeting primitive man, and a comic as a Casper ad. It’s a pile of funny, all in one place, and the man has a few more books available if you like this one. Read a few samples and make up your own mind, but I think this one is worth a look. $10
Posted by Kevin 
