Jim Benton

"I'm not calling a cop... He'd probably arrest me. For being super cool without a license"(page 27).

When I was younger, I loved the Dear Dumb Diary books, so I was super excited to read this from the same author. This book was so stupid in the best way possible. I love the cute artwork, the origin story of an unexpected character's former life of crime, and little got-a-bad-attitude-need-to-take-a-nap-with-his-Sharpie-marker-eyebrows-self Clyde. Also, the Granny Turtle is so adorable.

The show more humor's really funny and quirky, and I think it's appealing to both kids and adults. Now, Clyde had a terribly mean mouth and he only sort of kind of learns his lesson by becoming a bad good guy. Y'know a "first they're sour, then they're sweet." but he's a fun character nevertheless.

If you want a quick, fun read around 10 minutes, then I recommend this book. Give me a sequel!
4.5 show less

Clyde is ONE. BAD. BEAR. No, really...he's bad to the bone, and there's nothing you can do about it. He mouths off to moths (who aren't ACTUALLY moths), hurls his grandmother in the pond (she's a turtle; she'll be fine), threatens to do bodily harm with pine cones...and then gets promptly shown what for with a pine cone by a butterfly (hence that "not a moth" comment from earlier). Yes, Clyde is one bad bear, but what we take away from this "charming" story of unusual friendship, wanting to show more be the baddest of the bad, and getting out of small town life to conquer the big bad city, is that being the biggest, meanest, baddest creature in the land is all relative. You can claim the title as long as you want, but there's always gonna be someone bigger, and badder that eventually comes along to knock you off your throne...best to have a few good friends by your side to lighten the fall... or not. I mean, this IS Clyde we're talking about and he was beaten up by a BUTTERFLY for crying out loud! A great pick for fans of the author's HAPPY BUNNY creation. show less

A book that totally channels Edward Gory - In this book we get a niece. Who, gets shuffled from aunt to aunt as each relative dies in rather mysterious circumstances (or not).

First, the book is fun. Makes me a bit nervous being an aunt myself to a naughty little girl... But, very derivative of Edward Gory. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but, I would have liked something a bit more original.

Graphics are fun, Cherise is obviously a troubled young lady. The aunts are fun - from doddering show more fools, to artsy hippie's... they are all good. The rhymes describing each aunt are also well done - not high poetry, but fun.

Totally a good book for aunts (or anyone who likes a creepy kid with a dark tale). show less

Man, I Hate Cursive by Jim Benton is a solid collection of his comics. The humor runs from a bit morbid to everyday truisms.

Because Benton does not rely on one primary character or group of characters there is more room to experiment but also more hit or miss opportunities. There were some that did not resonate with me but by far there were more hits than misses. I probably liked the ones that might fall into the category of 'interesting twists on life', assuming that is even a category.

I show more would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes many of the standalone comics you find scattered through many magazines (they do still do that, right?). There are not plots and no character subplots, just a collection of very good comics.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. show less