Written by S. Steven Struble
Illustrated by Sina Grace“THAT’S NOT MY NAME”
What will the Li’l Depressed Boy go through to learn the name of his dream girl? Comic shops, video games, hoards of zombies, and a game of high stakes style-points bowling. That’s what.
Following it’s now officially sold out debut issue, everyone’s favorite indie-lovefest webcomic turned for reals comic continues every thing that made the debut so great with #2. Click below for all the juicy “awww” moments.
Heart, and I mean undeniable heart, is rare in comics these days. A lot of books play at faux-sympathy and relatability about as well as Charlie Sheen plays at being a sane person. However, The Li’l Depressed Boy nails it with its stark, candid, heartwarming awkward portrayal of every 20-nothing thats listened to just a little too many Lemuria records condensed into one ragdoll boy.
While I could relate a little more directly to the events of issue #1, #2 continues the charm trend by including such salient topics such as scene point bowling, shopping for comics and having no idea what the name of the girl you love is. As LDB stumbles and bumbles through this adorable adventure, you can’t help but share the infectious enthusiasm/despair combo in a very down to earth, humanistic way.
Also, as it turns out, our female protagonist’s name is Jazmin, or Jazz for short…which is just perfectly tongue in cheek.
On the art end, Grace’s work caries the issue just as much as the story itself does. It’s perfectly stylized to create characters that are really unlike anything on the market today, though its really the sheer amount of detailed placed into the design and layout of every page that makes the book stand out. Bouncing back and forth between conventional and unconventional layouts creates an almost controlled chaotic feel, not unlike the visual tics of director Michel Gondry’s film work.
Much like last issue, I refuse to jump ahead with the story via the webcomic. While I know that that is the format the book was given its life in, I simply love watching these tales unfold in my own two hands way too much to absorb it with an impersonal click-through. Though, for those who know me, I am not a patient man…and the fact that I willingly and excitedly plan to wait for every single issue of this book to land in my hands in order to read it (not even advanced preview copies in my inbox will do the trick) says a LOT about this book.
Final Verdict: 9.5 – Buy
