Life is just a bunch of lines, thin ones, connecting people and places.

The introductory author's note includes apologetic qualifiers: he changed a lot over the years he wrote these stories, Bukowski and Kerouac are no longer his favorite writers, critics don't understand autobiographical work, etc. Didn't exactly inspire confidence going in...

The early stories are juvenile antics: mindless destruction, stealing, taking drugs, robbing to get more drugs...flat on the page, no insight. Much later it gets better, Brubaker goes deeper into what is going on around him, with him, between him and others, friends and lovers. His disconnects, alienation, round peg in square-holedness, it takes shape from shadow, delineates what the earlier panels did not make explicit.

Thread of one lost lover is tugged across and into other stories. "Mondo Lowlife" and "The Other Shoe" were my favorites. The back cover includes quotes mentioning slackerhood, Generation X lifestyle, Richard Linklater. These comix were written in the 90s (1991-1996), the height of GenX mania. Critics always seem to want to fasten a label on modern day ennui, like a fancy bandage to hold in the blood and pus of life leaking out all over our numb bodies. To name it makes it less horrifying, I guess. Shove it in a jar and put in on that dusty shelf in the back room so we don't have to stare at our own failures to engage, to find meaning in this confusing tangle of memories, fleeting moments of contentment, desires, failures, deficiencies, doubts, anxieties, despondencies, high points, low points, staring at the clouds, scratching with our pens, pointless jobs, scrabbling about to achieve daily existence. Yes, it is all of that and more, sometimes less, but it is not as simple as calling it "slackerhood."

I thought about giving this 3 stars, but the collection as a whole felt too uneven. Many of the stories had no effect on me, but I kept reading because the book is not that long and Brubaker's intro made me consider the possibility of later improvement. So, I'd give 3 or even 4 stars to the later stories I mentioned. ( )

Themes of failure through drug abuse, crime, and personal relationships are strong. An early and honest effort by noted cartoonist, the dialogue is heavy and by his own admission, artwork "hurts my eyes" compared to his work today. Despite this admission, Brubaker boasts "a lot of affection" for this work and he should have! It hits its mark squarely.

Readers will easily relate to the main character, Tommy, and the problems he creates for himself and finds himself a part of. We get a glimpse of the highs enjoyed through drugs and the adreneline rushes following successful crimes against society. We also feel the pain of being caught in lies, surviving hangovers, and realizing mistakes.

By the nature of the book, loose ends are not all neatly tied up and things do not all work out perfectly. Brubaker admits some poetic license in the telling of his stories but he does not sterilize the nightmares of his life. A brief epilogue leads readers to believe Tommy matured into the work-a-day world, leaving his failures behind him, but holding on to the happier of his dreams and memories. ( )

Väldigt likt den svenska introverta svenska serievågen på nittiotalet, men lite galnare. Galet liten text i stora mängder i några berättelser. Ed Brubaker gick sedan vidare och skrev ett flertal superhjälteserier för de båda stora serieförlagen. Ungefär som om Daniel Ahlgren skulle börja skriva Fantomen. Galet rolig tanke. ( )