Recommendation of the Week

Hyperbole and a Half is awesome. The drawings are intentionally shoddy and childlike, and that adds to the appeal of this childhood story. How dare the annoyingly perky little sister not be scared when you tell her scary stories of monsters! The story is beautifully real and shows the cruelty and selfishness of children, even sensitive artsy children. The characters look amusing, particularly the parents. I especially love the father's chubby white body, complete with a random-shaped wad of chest hair.

I love how the story is drawn out gradually - more and more closets appear, blood appears, the bear turns into a snake-bat-bear thingy, etc. It's like a children's story hour with drawings, except that the events are pretty ghastly. (Although it's amusingly overdone from a grown up perspective, the drawings have the potential to be truly frightening.) The half-child, half-adult point of view works well.

It's a simple childhood memory, but the visuals and storytelling have turned it into art. It's like a textbook case of what to do if you want to make a comic of your memories.