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Blirps #4

A peek behind the curtain: I was planning on getting back into Plastic People, as it’s a bad idea to get too far behind in any series Brian is doing, but I seem to have a gap between #9-12. I’ll get it sorted (CXC in Columbus is only a few months away, after all), but it’s not like I ever have a shortage of his books to review. Blirps is more self-contained than his other series, or at least it seems that way after reading #2 and #4. It’s a series of four panel strips, and in this issue each strip starts off with an insecurity of the main character as they try to work their way through it. Subjects include indecisiveness, false hope, trying to put yourself out there, standing out in a crowd, self-doubt, going out on a limb, and getting way too far into your own head. And a couple more, which I leave (as always) for the reader to discover. Honestly, at this point I’m a bigger fan of his ongoing series or his autobiographical work, but the benefits of somebody like him putting out so many quality comics is that I could end up flipping that opinion with a few more issues of this series. It has its moments, is what I’m saying, and if you’d like a flavor of Brian’s work without diving in to a series, this is your best bet for fiction (and Slice of Life is probably your best bet for autobio comics). Or, like I always say, just send him a pile of money and ask him for a grab bag of comics. One of these days I should probably ask Brian if anybody has ever actually done that… $1.99

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Blirps #2

Do you mean to tell me that Brian has yet another series out there? Yep, he sure does. Feel shame, comics artists who are only putting out one series at a time! This is a series of four panel strips meaning, as always, that some are going to be funnier than others to me, and that humor is subjective anyway, so what do I know. Each starts with something like a mantra from the main character, as he repeats whatever is bothering him in that strip. The one sampled shows the dangers of getting lost on the internet, despite your best intentions. Other subjects include fitting in, patience, blinking, trying to not be a jerk on a date, pretending to be rich, convincing the bully that you’re tough too, and avoiding panic. Plus a couple of others I’m not mentioning, because who doesn’t like a surprise or two? Anyway, this is a mostly funny book, which is all you can ask for out of four panel strips like these. It’s also very cheap at $2, so why not give it a try? Or just send him $20 and ask for a grab bag; the guy has a vast back catalog at this point. Send him money and ask him to surprise you!