The Journal Comic June 2002
By Drew Weing
Published by Drew Weing
Drew Weing's sardonic mini-comic -- one of my favourite comics this year -- is back for another month's worth of collections. These are from June of this year, and while I did read them all for free at the time, the delay between their online posting and their real-world publishing is just enough that I eagerly dove into this collection, and rediscovered the delights of The Journal Comic all over again.
Live a special edition DVD, Weing reprints some never-before-seen test strips in the back, and they're interesting to read. They feature an alternate self-depiction and an unfocused feel that show how far Weing has come as a cartoonist. The star of this issue, though, is the strips that appeared (and continue to appear) online.
Some of my favourite TJC strips are in here. June 2nd's quiet and oddly affecting rumination on the desolation of a Sunday afternoon has a devestatingly effective final panel. June 3rd finds Weing still ruminating, this time on the curious bluntness that sometimes accompanies the end of a longstanding relationship.
By June 6th we get our first real laugh, and unfortunately it's at our expense: Drew filing comics provides a minor insight into the lives of virtually every single person that is reading (or writing) this review. He also hit close to home for me in the June 15th strip, wherein Drew realizes his caffeine addiction and its effects in the same week that I did. The secret origin of this month's cover follows the next day, the 16th.
Weing always touches on what it is to be human in his strips (and this is why I love his work), with another in his series of comments on how we waste our lives away on June 14th, and the disgusting awakening of the knowledge of his place in the greater, grotesque circle of life on June 19th (another moment that once happened to me and my wife during our first year living together).
Probably the most complex, ironic and fascinating strip this month also delves into Weing's humanistic side, the strip above from June 23rd. In three simple panels, Weing gives us ennui, existential despair, insight into heroic myth, and an ironic gag that may have you laughing out loud, depending on your mood and how well-read you are. It's a fantastic example of his cartooning, and I hope my brown-nosing will keep me from getting sued for stealing it to show you here.
Weing has quickly become one of my favourite cartoonists, and his website is a daily stop for me (although not for him lately, damn it). The guy has a gift for auto-biography and self-assessment that makes The Journal Comic one of the highlights of my day.
"You don't have to buy this book," Weing says on the inside front cover. "Quick, put it down!" Clearly the man has fallen behind in his studies of the Bill Jemas School of Pathetic, Sexist, Racist Yet Successful Self-Promotion. Weing's humility puts the reader at risk, though. What if my computer broke? What if I got Mousey Wrist-itis and couldn't circumnavigate the Information Superhighway because of all the paininess? Weing couldn't be more wrong, but maybe he's just shy, so I'll say it for him:
You DO have to buy this book. QUICK, go order it! Grade: 4.5/5