Neal, Andrew – Meeting Comics #4

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Meeting Comics #4

I spent most of the last two weeks stuck in an office (including 18 hours on election day, which is sadly about the historical norm for me), and still the first comic I’m reviewing after all that is a series of funny strips mostly about office life. I even held a meeting myself! Granted, it was short, there was a point, and I didn’t bother with visual aids, but still. I’m becoming one of the baddies! Sorry, where was I? Yeah, it’s a new issue of Meeting Comics! Well, an old issue, as I’m still more than a dozen issues behind. New to me, and I don’t see anybody else writing this review. Honestly, this issue is where the funny started wearing off a bit for me. Don’t ask me to explain it; I flipped back through the book in an effort to nail down this vague feeling and found myself laughing again at several strips. Is it because more of it deals with things other than office life this time around? Or is it my own general exhaustion from working so much lately where, all things considered, I’d rather be vegging out in front of the television? One of those little unknowable mysteries, I guess. Subjects this time around (after a great introduction from Barrett Stanley, and if Andrew is able to get intros for each of his comics he’s clearly doing something right) include hurricane coverage, visiting the family, happy birthday, what people are willing to put up with to get anything resembling a babysitter, seeing the protests you used to participate in on your way to work at the place being protested, threesome rules, the inevitability of straight white men to break bad, sharing a bed at a conference, the “can’t get with it” room, and dripping your whole life. Once again that’s only about half of the strips, and once again I gave you very little useful information. After looking through the book yet again I’m even more convinced that it’s my general malaise and not the quality of the book that has me feeling “meh” about it overall, but hey, we’ll find out next week after I review #5. What’s more likely: a book that’s at #18 and counting as we speak got significantly worse after the third issue, or it’s more something on my end? I’m voting for the second option. $5