Red Eye, Black Eye

Here's how this works: I finish reading a comic collection, and I tell you about it, and I try not to go on too long.



In K. Thor Jensen's first graphic novel, he recounts a bizarre journey around the US at the end of 2001, after he lost his job, got dumped and kicked out of his apartment in the space of a week. He puts his belongings in storage, buys a two-month Greyhound Ameripass and hits the road, relying on the couches of internet acquaintances in more than a dozen cities to continue his odyssey.

I was a little disappointed in the end, as I was hoping for some sort of resolution, but this is perhaps my fault for trying to see "plot" in what's plainly nothing more than an anecdotal travelogue. It's certainly a very interesting story, with many funny diversions, and it's told quite well. I'm shocked and apalled that his Atlanta host could find the Varsity, but not the Clermont. Give us a ring next time you're in town, Thor; I'll give you directions.

(Originally posted Aug 26 2007 at hipsterdad's LJ.)