Ben Katchor

*I am writing a different review here than I did initially because I didn't get it quite right in my initial assessment*

I had high expectations for this. I have read many of these compilations, and look forward to their publication. I usually read them in a day or two, and come away from them with a whole laundry list of artists to check out.

This one did not do that for me. And it wasn't that the comics were too weird or surreal, because they weren't (and anyway, I like surreal. Michael Deforge is one of my favorites.) It was just that while some were legitimately good, many were merely passable (and forgettable,) and a few were painful. Like, poorly drawn (on purpose, it seems?) and poorly lettered to the point of being illegible. Some seemed interesting but I physically couldn't read them because the lettering was either a) too tiny or b) completely illegible chicken scratch.

So maybe this bad drawing / bad handwriting stuff is just a style I don't get? I found it unpleasant either way.… (mehr)