Simon Hanselmann

LOVED this! A wacky out of control collection of comics about a witch and her weird anthropomorphic friends. Basically all they do is drink, get stoned, pick on their weird alcoholic owl friend, go to parties, watch TV (they secretly love iCarly), deal with depression, and do weird sex stuff. It's off the wall weird and I love the characters. Werewolf Jones is the life of the party, Owl just wants his friends to like him sober and not get made fun of so much, Megg just wants to smoke and show more find a way to battle her depression, and Mogg is the most stoned and horny cat you've ever seen. Whimsically drawn and filled in with watercolor, this comic series doesn't take it's self seriously and is bizarrely hilarious. show less

I found this book on a list of the 100 best graphic novels. I've been reading through the list and have so far found it to be very good. This one, however, was a huge disappointment. First of all, this is not a graphic novel, this a collection of comics. Some of them have a few pages of connected plot lines, but it is extremely episodic. There is no over arching plot or character development. These are mostly slice-of-life stories about a stoner witch and her loser friends and roommates.

The show more fact that the main character is a witch is never a part of the plot. She doesn't do spells or use her magic to do or accomplish anything. She just lays around her filthy apartment, smokes pot and does other drugs, and has sex with her cat. It's gross. The cat's penis is frequently a punchline.

There is one comic where all the friends make a plan to rape their roommate on his birthday. And then they do. They rape their roommate and call it a joke afterwards. They conspired to sabotage their roommate's attempt and sobriety. They set out to make him lose his dream job. It's cruel and dark.

I don't understand this book. I think it's trying to be funny but maybe it's just a really dark look into the life of a drug addict. Either way, I feel sick whenever I think about it. show less

When I started this book, I thought I was in for a silly stoner comedy about a lazy witch and her anthropomorphic pals. The humour could be a bit juvenile, but it was weird enough to keep me interested and entertained. However, things took a turn for the worse after the uncomfortable sexual assault scene occurs about one third of the way into the book. The disturbing scene is tastelessly played off as a joke by the characters, and I found it really hard for my engagement to bounce back after show more that.

Even though this is a book about a green-tinted witch and her talking cat boyfriend, part of what made this story so depressing was how real it all seemed. This book painfully captures how poor behavioural choices keep these characters stuck in a self-destructive cycle (e.g. self-medicating with drugs and alcohol; engaging in toxic relationships because of loneliness; low self-esteem; failing at any kind of responsibility; not being able to sustain long-term motivation). Comics are a powerful medium to depict this kind of lifestyle, as the reader too feels constrained and frustrated by the perpetually messy surroundings of the apartment.

So while I was expecting a lowbrow stoner comedy, I instead was faced with a much deeper examination of millennial malaise. I appreciate the way these comics explore the unsavory side of depression, but also cannot say that I enjoyed the reading experience all that much. show less

I don't know what's more disturbing:

a) this comic
b) that a friend I don't know well thought I'd like it
c) the fact that he was kinda right

No stars because I still don't know exactly how I feel about it, and plus I'm sick of always being so judgy.