Is there anything better than reading outside? We'll return to our regular programming tomorrow, but for now, let's take a look-see at the beach (lake, poolside, neighbor's driveway, lawn of the art museum) reads that kept me alive during my least favorite season.
Wrong by Skeleton Bones (CF) is a quickie facsimile from Toybox Coffin Playplace. This is strictly fun in the sun from CF, violent misunderstandings with an abrupt end, you will want for nothing. Sometimes you need a gag to love and leave- amuse yourself while it's reading time and then get on with your life until you pick it back up: Life is a Threat by Gudim from The Mansion Press reminds me of my favorite Perry Bible Fellowship moments, my kid bought this one. The same kid read Do Admit! in one sitting. This story of those complicated century-shaping Mitford sisters took me a couple of weeks of enamored toting around and pontificating to get through, but let me know how quickly your 12-year old finished it. Not everybody read Sassy Magazine growing up, but those who did could not be more primed for this book by beloved Sassy contributor, Mimi Pond. This thick brick from Drawn & Quarterly could be the biggest no-brainer I've ever seen. Do you like to be entertained? Do you like beautiful illustrations rendered in Prussian blue as well as the juiciest gossip humankind has ever created? Thank goodness I had Mattie Lubchansky's Simplicity from Pantheon to get me through the grieving period when Do Admit! was over- the Nib alum's latest has everything in the whole entire world without end: it's funny, scary, horny, dystopian and utopian sci-fi. if I had to crown one title "Beach Read of the Year", this would be it.
Do you have a new best friend or did you just meet someone else who also loves Quinto's Mafalda? It's hard to tell! Our precious darling was lovely linework to behold, but now the strip has been translated by Frank Wynne for Elsewhere Editions so we can enjoy the little urchin, Little Dot and Nancy all at a birthday pool party at last. Jenn Woodall's Dumbass! is a self-published collection of fretting autobio and sketches to relate to and (even soothe, wow!) the psychic pain of the artist's mind. I love a gal's gal, and I always find one in Jenn's work. A Monty by Zak Sally has the comfortingly cloudy-day tone you know from Sammy the Mouse, in this childhood autobio zine. Zak tells a story from 45 years ago without a trace of nostalgia. Not a true feel-bad, but you didn't come here to be cheered up, just be satisfied you're getting a little understanding and grace. Micah Liesenfeld's ongoing series A-T Walker, about his family's life with his child's rare neuro-degenerative disease (ataxia telangiectasia) is an incredibly well-paced story of his child receiving this painful diagnosis as well as the guessing game of new parenthood and deciphering illness. These stories are heartbreaking, but when has that stopped you from reading something worthwhile?
I have a couple of honorable mentions that aren't technically comic books, but get over it. Molly Colleen O'Connell's Who's Afraid of a Florida Woman? is a nice thick pick-it-up-and-put-it-down to live on the bedside table. Molly's comics tell you entertaining secrets while letting you know it's okay to not always be at your best, truly the popcorn eaten as the opening credits roll. Her collection from Colorama features doodle illustrations, photographs that look like whatever charming misty malarky Tyrannosaurus Rex, songs are probably about, ideas for toilets, and interview between Molly and (Thomas) Conor Stechshulte and 100 other scrap-lettes someone made the error of thinking we had earned the right to see.
Summer can be cute, but that body of water will swallow you whole if you don't balance the beach with a visit from your best goth gal: Gretchen Felker-Martin has a new release to remind us all to please shut up, it's now Halloween. Black Flame (Tor Nightfire) is a snappy novel that feels exactly like watching a movie, shutting out the outside world enough to trick me into thinking that being a queer film archivist in 1980s New York would have been so much fun in a way that it definitely was not. This book might not completely ruin your life the way Cuckoo and Manhunt did, but it's no less engrossing, slippery, sexy and scary. Just shy of 200 pages, you can get through it in one day under the black-fringed beach umbrella. An important reminder for reading this book: keep in mind, you can always decant your Swiss Navy into a smaller bottle for easier travel.
The post Beloved Beach Reads from a Happy Labor Day appeared first on The Comics Journal.
Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean.
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