I don’t know anything about English-language comics, and it feels overwhelming not to know where to start. So when I saw this Guardian list of ten funny comic books, I thought it would be a good place to start. The list is curated by Luke Healy, who recently wrote The Con Artists, the story of a stand-up comedian. I started reading these ten comics and somewhere along the way I remembered two things. Firstly, that I am a very difficult person when it comes to humour. Most of it does not make me laugh, for reasons I don’t really always understand. Secondly, that I am a very picky comic reader, very attached to the way the comic is drawn. So I went through them with a very different appreciation, but happy to have explored this art.
The Ten Comics
1.
Today Is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life – Ulli Lust (2009)
2. Pyongyang – Guy Delisle (2003)
3.
Everything is Flammable – Gabrielle Bell (2017)
4.
Hyperbole and a half – Allie Brosh (2013)
5.
My Dirty Dumb Eyes – Lisa Hanawalt (2013)
6.
Reunion – Pascal Girard (2011)
7.
Snackies – Nick Sumida (2014)
8.
The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist – Adrian Tomine (2020)
9.
Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant ? – Roz Chast (2014)
10.
On the Camino – Jason (2017)