Hrabe, Ian – Problems With Solutions #2

Website

Problems With Solutions #2

Dammit! Here I am, all set to start off the new year (2008, in case you’re reading this years from now) blasting away at mediocrity instead of being so wishy-washy, and the first comic I pick up out of my pile has a set excuse for being so-so: this is a continuation of the first issue of the series, which I haven’t seen, and these piece are “B-sides” from that issue. So there are instantly lowered expectations and not much of a standard to strive for. Oh well, better luck tomorrow. If the first issue has the best of these stories, then this could be a worthy companion piece. If they’re all like this, it’s a fairly mediocre comic. Stories in here include Ian working in class, getting a grade back on a Shakespeare paper, watching a friend play Mario 3, bemoaning the state of free radio, chatting with friends, “dressing up” for Halloween, and a long, extended story at the end about the general state of voter apathy. I’m ignoring the stories that are just long walks with song lyrics as text because dude, that’s cheating. Like I said, it’s OK overall, the art is a little sloppy but decent and the lettering could use some work, but as a collection of B-sides it works. Of course, the fact that the website hasn’t been updated since right around when this comic came out isn’t a good sign… $1