Lapp, Dave – Window #8

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Window #8

I’m not sure if Dave ever bothers with any sort of a theme on an issue by issue basis, but if so this would have to be the “unfortunate touching/yelling” issue. No, nothing is remotely inappropriate, but it does rise to the level of icky on occasion. The main piece deals with a group of kids who go to Dave’s art class in a, well, shithole. Possible literally, as he has to plug up some drains to deal with some of the more offensive odors. He teaches them a few tricks, has his heart broken by a kid that only says “hot dog” and draws in repetitive scribbles (although he probably gets his heart broken on a semi-regular basis, what with all the teaching he did for low income students), and meets up with a remarkably clingy kid who has no clue about where she should be grabbing on the guy to get his attention. This story sums up why I’ve been enjoying these issues so much, as we see some of the only happy moments of these kids’ lives, but it’s very clear that a lot of them are just horribly damaged. Not that Dave hits us in the face with this information, but bags under the eyes of a kid and some dirty clothes go a long way to making that point. Other stories include a conversation with a guy whose two front teeth are worth $1,000, the shape of his Mom’s teeth and what that means for his own future, an incident from Dave’s childhood and a story simply called “penis.” This one is hysterically funny and I’m not going to say another thing about it, other than to reiterate that it was a harmlessly funny story and that Dave is a saint among men for many, many reasons. Well, at least in regards to his treatment of children, and that’s supposed to tell a lot about a guy, right? $1 or 2, check with the man for details.