Boys boys boys! This month, Bryan Lee O’Malley and Leslie Hung spotlight the dudes.
Written by Bryan Lee O’MalleyCover by Lesle Hung
Illustrated by Leslie Hung
Coloured by Rachael Cohen
Lettered by Maré Odomo
From bestselling BRYAN LEE O’MALLEY (Scott Pilgrim) and superstar LESLIE HUNG, it’s Image’s new hit SNOTGIRL! Lottie Person is a beloved blogger who just wants to live her life! Instead she’s getting engulfed in a messed-up mystery while secretly suffering from alarming allergies. THIS MONTH: we’re handing it over to the boys! It’s the boys issue! All boys everything! What could go wrong?
“Snotgirl” has a very distinct feeling to it. The comic is just as cool, and without any substantial answers, as the lives of the L.A. fashion bloggers it tells about. In this issue, the focus is on the male characters: Lottie’s ex-boyfriend Sunny, Meg’s unfaithful fiancé Ashley, detective John Cho, and the mysterious Caroline’s equally mysterious brother (or “brother”) Virgil. Out of these four, Sunny and John are at least somewhat likeable, while Virgil is quite ominous and the dirty-talking and extremely vain Ashley is a strong contender for being the most infuriating comic character of the year.
When discussing this comic it’s easy to fall into only talking about the characters and not the plot. This is because while the plot does go forward, the progression feels more like events being stacked on top of eachother than a story with a clear structure. Eight issues in, almost nothing has been explained and we are given just more and more questions. The structure of the comic is quite unusual. This is the second story arc but there wasn’t much of a dividing point between the arcs. Situations are left hanging and the reader understands only slightly more than the characters do. The artwork doesn’t provide much clues either and instead goes along with the uncertainty of the verbal narrative. Fortunately this time around Bryan Lee O’Malley doesn’t add any more mysteries, even if he doesn’t explain anything either. The story can become exhausting to read if there won’t be even any hints given about why Sunny’s new girlfriend stalks Lottie and why is Virgil spying the other characters. This issue doesn’t get as neurotic as the series usually is, because it isn’t told through Lottie’s point of view. Taking a break from the series’ most likely unreliable narrator would be more interesting if there was more revealed here. Instead we get a dozen pages of lewd talk about adultery and a couple of scenes about the enigmatic Charlene (not to be confused with the enigmatic Caroline, as there are many enigmatic people in this comic) that don’t tell us much new. The humour in the sauna scene is the type that either makes you laugh or makes you hate this comic, not the kind that you pass with a “meh” and keep reading.
The artwork of the series is stellar yet again. Leslie Hung’s thick and sleek lines practically radiate the cool vibe of the comic without forgetting a touch of cuteness. The artwork is relatively simple and always clear but all the details look carefully planned out. Hung’s layouts are quite uncomplicated with a lot of panels that are big and have air to them, which fits the feeling that this comic isn’t in a hurry to go anywhere fast. Rachael Cohen’s colours look really nice throughout the issue but her talent shows especially in scenes where the colouring is different from usual, such as the dream page and the page where Sunny is enraged at the squash court.
There’s a very contemporary look to this comic. The creators know whats popular with the rich, the famous and the bored right now and take it to the extreme. Lottie’s neon green hair has become a brand by now, Virgil looks like a k-pop band member and all the Instagram and Snapchat updates are realistic down to the small details like the fonts letterer Maré Odomo has used. In the squash scene Ashley bears a notable resemblance to Joseph Christiansen from this year’s popular Dream Daddy game. In short, everything is very 2017.
The art is easily the best part of the issue. In the world of “Snotgirl” appearances are everything, and while Bryan Lee O’Malley has crafted an unusual and intriguing narrative with interesting characters that would be far from likeable if they were real people, it’s really the clarity of Leslie Hung’s lineart that shines. Rachael Cohen’s colours add to the tones of Hung’s scenes, be it showing off shirtless men in the sauna or Lottie all alone on her phone in the dark. It perfectly conveys the comic’s “I’m lost in life, I don’t understand anything and I’m really a quite unlikeable person but at least I look flawless” mindset.
Final verdict: 7.4 – A bit different from how the series usually is but maintains the stylish look as always.
