Drinking at the Movies

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

I've been a fan for a long time now of Julia Wertz's funny, filthy web comic The Fart Party, so I'm glad to see her get a little more recognition here with her first mainstream, nationally released collection, Drinking at the Movies. And indeed, although a lot of this book simply reprints material already seen at the website, at least half of it is brand-new stuff exclusively for the book, where Wertz takes the opportunity to expand certain storylines and to get a little more serious and introspective, as only a book format allows you to. Granted, show more I'm not sure how charming any of this stuff might be when Wertz is forty, and no longer behaving in the life-changing, sometimes outrageously trainwreckish ways that make the comic so godd-mn funny (in this collection, for example, she moves from San Francisco to Brooklyn, all while drinking too much and going on a series of comically horrible dates); but I suppose it's then that we'll see whether Wertz is able to morph into more challenging work as she gets older, or if she'll become the ten thousandth twentysomething confessional comics artist to hang it all up right around the same time as her first mortgage. For now, I highly recommend this fascinating, hilarious look at why exactly youth is wasted on the young.

Out of 10: 9.0 show less

This book could be my life. At times difficult to read, because the similarities between our two lives are so poignant, but excellent all around. Although I moved from Boston to Chicago instead of from SF to NYC, there are so many parallels here. Highly recommended to anybody who's homesick, depressed, trying to figure out life as an adult when you feel like a perpetual kid and in need of a laugh.

I'm not normally a huge fan of autobio comics, and the main plot here is fairly familiar, but Wertz has enough inventive whimsy, craft and humour to make it work. If you don't like Wertz's humour I doubt you'll find much to connect with here, but if you do then it's an entertaining, engaging read.

Being a fan of Fart Party, I was so excited to see Wertz had a new book out and in this case it's a more of a whole store, a graphic memoir, instead of stripes compiled together.

I really think there was no way I couldn't like this book, Julia travels to New York to see what she thinks of it there and being a fan of New York myself I love reading about people's experiences with it.

While we might not have a lot in common hobby wise (I SO don't like beer), I feel like she's the comic voice of my generation. She perfectly describes what it's like to be a 20-something, sometimes you just have no idea what is going on with your life and it sucks. Through it all though she keeps a mostly positive attitude and finds new adventures and discovers show more more things about herself.

Wertz's sense of humor is great, and no it's not just a fart party people! She's funny and her illustration style is approachable, she keeps it simple and that's what I love in my graphic novels style wise. Besides the humorous bits she mixes in the hard parts of her life and the troubles with her family, to me it flows really well and it extremely honest yet she never gets to down, always seeing the hilarious side of every situation.

If you want to try something a little new and different in graphic novels and are ready to break away from the "classics" of graphic novels, give this one a try! show less

‘Drinking at the Movies’ is a coming of age memoir in graphic format. Wertz is the author/artist who created the ‘Fart Party’ comics. This book follows a year of her life when she moved from San Francisco to New York City, as she deals with serial unemployment, being broke, a brother who keeps ODing and going into rehab, a bad whisky habit, a comic strip she’s producing and a basic dislike for a good lot of humanity. The humor ranges from silly to dark, and Wertz is unsparing of herself and her flaws. It’s funny and touching.

julia has a simple and unassuming graphic style that works very well for the kind of self deprecating-everyday-life kind of humor she goes for. the book collects a lot of one to two page vignettes of her life after she moved from the bay area to new york city. each one is a mini story with a mini punch line at the end. although it's not laughing out loud kind of cartooning, or "oh you are so clever" kind of punchlines, it works. it keeps you reading and wanting more. she has a good pace and a knack for narrative rhythm.

This was a really engaging story about one woman's move to NYC. Moving to a new city without already having a job was a brave thing to do...quitting the jobs she did manage to get, brave but foolish. Admitting that she has a drinking problem--very brave, indeed.

My only critique is that I wish Wertz would vary her panel sizes.