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Dirtbags, Mallchicks & Motorbikes

An entirely new collection from Dave, all in glorious (and that word certainly applies in this case) color.  Sorry, you needed more than that?  OK, that’s only fair.  This is a collection of awkward coming of age stories, all told in a way that makes this collection accessible to teenagers.  Or at least I think it would, I have no idea what goes on in the minds of teenagers right now.  First up is Motorbikes, the story of a young man who isn’t well thought of by his mother or seemingly anybody else, as he tries to take care of his mother after she has an accident while also trying to get with the attractive nurse who is staying with them.  Next is Mall Chicks, where a young woman gets very poor advice about how to attract boys and the practical trouble involved.  Dirtbags is the story at the center of the book, telling the tale of a young woman playing tennis and a young man who watches her a little too intently every day.  What, you thought that was it for the book just because that’s all the stories in the title?  Hell no!  The Party is up next, showing a high school party, what the party thrower had wanted to happen and what actually does happen.  Finally there’s That’s My Baby, a heartbreaker of a story about a young man who gets a young woman pregnant and is confronted by her intention of giving the baby up for adoption to anyone but him.  Dave was made for color comics and his stuff has never looked better than here.  You’d think that “angst-ridden” only dealt with one or two facial expressions, but you’d be wrong.  I swear that Dave must have stopped his growth in high school, as he has the unerring ability to portray exactly what these poor kids are going through just by the looks on their faces.  This is self-published, goes for $20 with postage and is quite possibly the best thing he’s ever done.  Of course, I may have said that with a few other things on this page too, but it’s certainly the best full color graphic novel he’s done.  Unless there’s one I missed out there somewhere… $20