Manley, Jeffery J. – Joplin, Wyoming: Volume One

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Joplin, Wyoming: Volume One

You guys know that I like Jeff, right? I’ve made that pretty clear with a bunch of other reviews on this page, I think. So, I did like this book, but I have more than a few criticisms about it. First off, for those of you who don’t want to scroll up a bit, this is the story of Jeffery (I mean “Miner”) meeting and courting his current wife Alexis and dealing with the opinions of her family members. It’s a touching story at times, and I still think that his artwork gets better every time I see it. And I didn’t even notice too many things grammatically wrong with it, which was a pleasant surprise. BUT (you knew it was coming)… it had a few problems. For one thing, the story was all over the place. First he has a big argument with Alexis about God, then suddenly (although years have passed chronologically) he’s praising God himself. Then they’re married and slightly bored with the routine, which makes the ending kind of anti-climatic. Not sure how I would have changed it to make it more clear, and it did help to break up a story that’s basically just about two people, but it seemed kind of messy so far. That’s the key part of this. the “so far” bit. He plans on doing at least a few more of these, and it’s entirely possible that he has a grand master plan and this review is going to look pretty stupid in a few years. Oh well, it wouldn’t be the first time. Also, some of the shading looks crappy, and that’s not something that I usually notice. Looks like he’s inking in things with a marker that’s almost out, which would be fine for a mini, but this is a graphic novel for Christ sakes, so take your time! I also really thought that there would be more with Alexis’s family from the preview mini, but they were barely in here at all. Anyway, it’s still a great book overall, I just have a few minor problems with it. It’s only $6 for a pretty big book, and there are more coming, so check it out!