Week of 7/3/2023
This week, we present the holy trifecta of a comic, piece of news, and the return of Sammy the Critic!
Comics
Happy Deal
Anyone here buys Happy Meals just to collect the toys?
News
Atomic Books
Atomic Books now carries all of The Shapes issues in their Baltimore storefront. They should soon have them stocked in their online shop as well, so stay tuned for more updates about that.
Sammy the Critic
Everything Sucks
In the first installment of the Sammy the Critic revival, I’m reviewing the Everything Sucks comic book series by Michael Sweater. With three issues and counting, this is easily my favorite ongoing comic book and its simple premise plays into it. Everything Sucks follows the episodic exploits of the slacker roommate duo Calla and Noah whose day-to-day dilemmas always manage to comically escalate whether it be from a simple task like grabbing burgers from the local fast food eatery or getting locked out of the house by cats.
The art is very reminiscent of the type of slice-of-life cartoons you’d find on Nick or Cartoon Network such as Rocko’s Modern Life or Regular Show. There’s a nostalgic quality to it that creates a comfy atmosphere that perfectly fits the chill vibes the writing goes for. It’s the literary equivalent of mellowing out with a buddy on your day off.
What’s even more impressive is Sweater’s attention to background details to convey the space the characters are inhabiting which really nails in the slacker energy throughout. Just taking a cursory glance at the splash page above informs the reader of these characters’ personalities and tastes (bless those Clerks and Office Space easter eggs).
Of course, all these praises would be incomplete without mentioning the crux of Everything Sucks’s strengths, its comedy which is heavily driven by its organic and fun character dynamics. One of my favorite scenes is the dialogue between Noah and his old lady neighbor in #2 (All Cats Go to Hell) when he complains about her feeding the stray cats.
To top it all off, every issue contains a page of cool stickers! As a caveat, the adhesive used isn’t very strong so it’s best not to stick them on anywhere it can easily come out and get lost. That’s what happened when I stuck one out to my luggage.
You can buy all Everything Sucks issues from Silver Sprocket or order them at your local comic book shop.