Wednesday, May 30, 2012

The Li'l Depressed Boy #11

Written by S. Steven Struble
Art by Sina Grace

Another month has gone by, and another new issue of LDB leaves me with the same concerns that I have every months.  This entire comic is made up of scenes of the LDB working at his new job at a movie theatre.  Each scene, taken on it's own, is quite serviceable.

LDB takes the trash to the garbage room and gets locked in.  One of his co-workers shows him how to slack off at emptying garbage cans.  Another co-worker engages in inane juvenile conversation with him about the deeper meaning of Fraggle Rock.  Later they have lunch, and more inane conversation.  LDB's manager is nice to him.  Struble and Grace do a good job of showing us what LDB's quotidian existence is like, and it's often pretty charming.

The problem is, after this long, I want more substance than just charm.  Reading this book is becoming a little too much like talking to an older high school or younger university student who are trying to show that they are 'individual'.  It's not just the fixation on bands no one's heard of, but also the way in which childish topics are trotted out as substitutes for real conversation.  It feels increasingly awkward to me.

I like this book, and want to continue liking this book, but I'm finding it frustrating more than it is beguiling.  As the book is hella behind (but catching up), I have a few more issues pre-ordered, so I'm going to stick with it for a while longer, but I'm going to stop adding new solicitations to my pull-file.  I'll have to see how I feel about the book in a few months.

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