Series: Snotgirl
Written by: Bryan Lee O’Malley
Art by: Leslie Hung
Publisher: Image Comics
Summary from Comixology: “WHO IS LOTTIE PERSON? Is she a gorgeous, fun-loving social media star with a perfect life or a gross, allergy-ridden mess? Enter a world of snot, blood, and tears in this new ongoing series from New York Times Best Seller BRYAN LEE O’MALLEY (Scott Pilgrim) and dazzling newcomer LESLIE HUNG!”
“Snotgirl” is such a peculiar title for a story, right? It sounds self-explanatory and yet evokes a lot of questions at the same time. Like, ok, it’s about a girl and her snot, but, like, is she made of snot? Does she use it like a superpower? Is she the daughter of Boogerman? Or maybe, like… it’s a sex thing? She’s into… snotplay? Or what if her snot is some kind of super-powered aphrodisiac that makes men and women go wild?! (Bryan, DM me, I have an idea for your second arc that we should talk about before one of these peasants steals it.)
Turns out, it’s none of those. Snotgirl is Lottie Person, just a regular ol’ millennial girl who blogs about fashion and lives the most fabulous life she can. Publicly anyway. Snotgirl is actually kind of a brilliant commentary on self-identity. Lottie has a persona that she has to maintain. She’s been doing it for years and she can’t just stop. She has her blog and all her social media accounts that depict her in a certain light, and she has friends that she keeps at just enough of a distance so that they can’t see past the walls she’s built, but no one can ever know that deep down she’s tired, and unbalanced mentally & emotionally. If you’ve ever been a human then I’m sure you can relate.
Lottie’s great embarrassment is her severe allergies, that inevitably causes her nose to run. The story is brilliant in that writer Bryan Lee O’Malley has an incredibly astute grip on who Lottie is. She cites her allergies as her source of weakness but really her issues run deeper and they’re way more serious than even she realizes. We, the readers, are on Lottie’s journey with her because for most the issue you feel like you’re in Clueless, but by the end you kind of feel like you’re in Fatal Attraction.
The artwork in the book is absolutely fantastic, especially when you consider that this is Leslie Hung’s first ever mainstream comic credit. Her work definitely has a manga vibe to it, it’s very full and rounded, but it’s more of a manga-influenced style rather than being derivative. One thing I really love is that she adjusts the look of the characters slightly based on the setting and situation, which is 100% true to real life. If it wasn’t then memes like this wouldn’t exist… (Don’t even pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about.)
Hung’s beautiful artwork partnered with the gorgeous colors from Mickey Quinn really gives the aesthetic-heavy world of Lottie Person full life and makes for a comic that will easily charm your eye.
I’ve become one of those grizzled veteran comic nerds who just isn’t all that excited about superheroes anymore. I just don’t care about DC Comics Rebirth, and I couldn’t care less about Civil War II. None of it interests or excites me anymore. Even the conversations those story-lines instigate aren’t substantial enough to matter. Creator-owned books are more fundamental. They dig into the dirty center of what society has become, how we’ve influenced the culture we lash out at, and how we interact with each other based on our experiences. Snotgirl has a glossy surface with lots of pretty colors and shrthnd txt spk, but underneath, just like people, it’s a story with a dark twist you couldn’t have predicted. I’m very excited about the direction of this first issue and I can’t wait to see where it leads. I highly recommend it. If you, or someone you know, are into stuff like Pretty Little Liars or the movie Jawbreaker, then this is a comic you should pick up for yourself, or them. It’s on comic shop stands today so head to a local comic book store in your area and grab one.
Music Pairing –
This was maybe the easiest music pairing I’ve ever come up with. The most perfect music pairing for this comic is literally anything from Melanie Martinez’s album “Crybaby”. It’s a dark, visceral pop album with subject matter that should make you uncomfortable but succeeds in making you want to dance (or in my case, wish you could dance).
(I low key kind of love Melanie Martinez.)