Spaz! #3

By Emi Gennis
spazcomix.com

The comics in here are split into a few different types. First there are the "Shit I worry about" strips (one of which is reprinted below). These recount some of Gennis' fears, from the mundane ("My cat running away"), to the irrational ("Being pushed in front of the subway"). I thought these were pretty funny, and I enjoyed the way Gennis portrayed herself in them, it makes me amused to think that she's that paranoid and freaked out all the time in real life. (Though only in a cartoon way, if she really was it'd be a bit depressing. I am expressing this poorly.)

The second type of comic is pretty interesting, they're graphical adaptations of Wikipedia articles, specifically those from the list of unusual deaths. These are, as you may have guessed from the title, pretty interesting, though one is a bit depressing. Thankfully this is cancelled out by the awesome facial hair drawn in the other strip.



The third type are the diary comics so prevalent in indie comics, and recently criticised by John Allison. I actually do enjoy Gennis' diary comics though, partially because some of them feature a gigantic, talking zygote, but also because I generally dig Gennis' art.



Gennis uses a cartoony style of art that isn't particularly realistic (look at the size of her eyes!) but works well with the type of stories she's telling. Her characters large eyes are effectively used to express emotions, though admitedly those emotions are generally "surprise", "fear", and "anger.

Mostly you can tell that I enjoyed this comic because I bothered to go back and scan more images because I thought they were funny. I'm usually way too lazy to do that, so there's clearly something here worth reading.