M., Simon – Smoo #2 1/2

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Smoo #2 1/2

What the heck?  2 and a half?  That wouldn’t be so bad, but the next issue in the pile o’ comics Simon sent is a preview of #3.  I don’t make the rules or anything, but I’m pretty sure you’re not allowed to have two issues between one issue number.  This one is called the “odds and sods” issue, as it supposedly only has bits and pieces of things.  Still, if you go into this expecting a sketchbook or something without a bit of genuine storytelling, that’s not the case at all.  He could have just slapped a “#3” on it and I would have been none the wiser.  Stories in here include a personal rumination on a night spent in a hotel room (and how he was unable to go out and enjoy the town due to feeling guilty about everything), a drunken bar conversation about the baffling behavior of one woman in particular (and the proposed mental sweepers to keep their brains free from “emotional debris”), Simon’s thoughts as utter nothingness, and a winter trip to see Mount Etna in Sicily that seemed to be poorly planned in every way but still a profound experience for him.  OK, maybe the issue was a bit shorter than his other offerings, so I guess that’s where the “1/2” comes from.  I still think he could have gotten away with calling it #3, and if you’re already a fan of his work this isn’t something you should miss.