Before I get into this review I just want to tell you a little bit of my backstory, because it’s that story that led to me read Snotgirl in the first place.
My partner and I have been together for so long that I can’t even remember a time in my life that I wasn’t constantly surrounded by the sounds of sneezing and noses being blown.
It’s just this part of my life now that I have come to terms with and accepted, but also something that I joke about relentlessly… in good spirit… mostly.
See there is this running joke I have, that if my partner was ever to be a superhero his initials would be SM – SNOT MAN. I laugh at this thought every single time I bring it up. He doesn’t really laugh, but I do and I think we can agree that’s what’s important here.
So, when a few days ago I was being annoyed by Mr. Sneezes ALL. THE. TIME. sitting next to me, I started looking through a bunch of comics trying to find a new series to read to distract myself, I saw a series entitled ‘Snotgirl’ I literally felt like a small kid on Christmas morning and I had to have it.
At first, I totally got the series as a joke, just seeing the look on his face when I told him that I got a comic to read JUST because it had a character in it that was his comic book twin and then telling him it was called Snotgirl was absolutely priceless and worth it.
The story of Snotgirl is written by renowned Canadian cartoonist Bryan Lee O’Malley, the man who was responsible for bringing us one of my all-time favorite series, Scott Pilgrim. While Snotgirl couldn’t be any more different from the world of Scott Pilgrim, there is also something vaguely familiar in the way that the story gets told, it’s like you’re a fly on the wall watching these characters lives play out before you in a surreal yet realistic and relatable way. It’s a magic that lies in the inclusion of all the small, seemingly irrelevant details that others would just omit.
Bryan O’Malley is joined in the series by partner in crime Leslie Hung, a newcomer to the scene and the one who brought the world of Snotgirl to life with her absolutely mind blowing art. Leslie has an Instagram page that she runs and it’s not hard to see why Bryan wanted her for this project, Leslie seems to be able to transfer even the most subtle of feelings with her drawings, and it’s this subtle intensity that makes Snotgirl what it is.
And last, but not least, we see the amazing work of colorist Mickey Quinn who takes all of this and makes it jump off the page, every emotion and feeling expressed flawlessly through colors that give it life.
Now I’m going to try and summarize the story of Snotgirl as best I can while giving away as few spoilers as I can, but really that’s not possible – but let’s just pretend.
So Snotgirl introduces us to the world of Fashion Blogging. You follow the life of Lottie Persons a very well known Fashion Blogger who suffers from very real, and very severe allergy problems.
The story is set in modern day Los Angeles and follows Lottie’s career, friendships, struggles, and relationships.
As you get introduced to Lottie you also get to know both parts of her, the Lottie she is when she’s online and the Lottie that’s behind the screen, the Lottie who isn’t confident, particularly happy or as perfect as she professes herself and her life to be on the internet. We see the real her, allergy ridden and tissue dependent.
Snotgirl is a monthly comic, each new comic taking off from where the last ended – telling one continued story.
As you follow this weird, wacky, and often funny story you find yourself being pulled into a story that’s much darker and troubling than what it appears.
There are so many different elements and tones at play here, but it somehow just works.
Snotgirl is a comic that feels modern and fresh and yet it somehow reminds me of the monthly-continuous-story comics I used to love as a child,