CSM's art dazzles as always. Interesting meditation on how houses and possessions stand in for our relationships and traumas, but I guess the ending was just too neat, even though it hit all the right notes.

An intergenerational story, revolving around a small mother and son business that runs estate sales. It's a bit melancholy, a bit nostalgic, a bit funny. It's gentle, and maybe not feel-good, but certainly touching in parts. I could have used a bit more drama, a bit more tension. My biggest complaint, though, is that everything seems slightly off - the cartooning isn't as smooth, the dialogue hits the odd duff note. Enjoyable, but I wish it had been just a little bit better.

I'd prefer to give this 3.5 stars, but as we can't...
( )

tl;dr: An engrossing tale of two people who fall in love, but it's also a story of healing the past and moving towards the future. So while the book is great, it's not amazing and that is perhaps its failing. It could have been amazing but it simply did not live up to its potential.

Review: Bad Houses is marketed by Dark House as juvenile fiction but I don't think that's accurate. The story contains adult situations that are reads far too sophisticated for juvenilia.

The story is on point and the side stories are fill in the edges. The flashbacks hint at things that are not fleshed out, but that's okay -- the end doesn't need a pretty bow to necessarily feel complete. You know, feel, and love the characters as if they are a part of your own existing circle of friends. Character development is exquisite and the art is gorgeous. Ryan's ability to capture the essence of a person in succinct form is a brilliant trait coupled with McNeil's art makes this a joyous book to hold.

But the more I sit with this story, the more I feel as if something is missing from the tale. I don't' feel satiated when I closed the cover. Sure, I want more of Anne/Lewis, but there is an element in their story that is missing. If Ryan had explored that more with her writing, let McNeil fill in the art bits, the story would have been perfect. But as such, it isn't and rates only 3.5/5 stars. ( )

As a collaborative work, Bad Houses is the perfect combination of irony and doodle. The work of such talents as Sara Ryan of YA lit fame and Carla Speed McNeil of Comic Book Tattoo, Bad Houses is the story of town in need of a populace. Lewis helps his mom run estate sales, Fred buys up stuff from estate sales and sells them as antiques, Anne photographs the negative spaces. In a way the story depicts the vicious cycle of perpetual Buddhist desire and emptiness. Anne's mom Danica is a hoarder who won't let her throw out baby clothes; "Why would you get rid of that?" is her motto. Thanks to such a childhood, Anne's favorite hobby is burning photo albums and meaningless mementos. Her boyfriend Lewis procures said mementos from estate sales and auctions for her (when he's not tossing people over his shoulder in Aikido, because if you can, really, why wouldn't you?). The desire to hold on to the past that keeps Danica hoarding and Fred buying up a ghost town of trinkets is amusing, painful and in the end, familiar to the youngsters, looking for a blank canvas to paint themselves onto. An incredible read. ( )

Have you ever wished that you'd be much more happy and successful than those who were shitty to you in high school (and that they could see that come to pass)? When you get your wish, you might be so much better off that you feel no smug satisfaction, but only sadness and sympathy for those who cannot let go of the past. ( )